My Little Farmboy
by Charlotte K
Summary: Even Luke Skywalker was a child once.
1. Playing in the Sand

The twin suns are starting their descent over Owen Lars's farm. In a pit of soft, warm sand behind the house, a little boy sits and plays with a toy spaceship, pretending to save his homeworld from certain doom. He pounds a fist into the sand, trying to make a dramatic landing for his toy Naboo Starfighter. Unsatisfied with the dent in the sandpit that resulted, he picks up a handful and throws it up into the air, shutting his eyes tightly so that they don't get sand in them. He smiles to himself, pleased with the mini sandstorm he created.

"I'll save you, Tatooine!" he cries out, picking up a Jedi action figure. He takes an action figure of a Rodian in his other hand, and starts to smack the two toys together, making up a dramatic fight scene between them.

"Luke!" Aunt Beru calls from the window. "Luke, you have to come in to eat. And then you need a bath!" Luke looks over at her, and she disappears into the house. He wants to play for just a few more minutes, but the last time he stayed outside for "just a few more minutes", he played until it got dark out, and then a little group of Sand People came up to him, and scared him to tears. That was a week ago. He's pretty sure it still hurts where Uncle Owen's hand connected with his back side. Uncle Owen said that an eight-year-old should not be playing outside when it's dark out. Especially when he knows he's not supposed to be. Luke picks up his toys, and stands up. He looks down at the little houses he made in the sand.

"Actually, Tatooine," he says. "I'm a rancor!" He takes a big breath in, puffs out his chest as far as it can go, and lets out his best roar. He jumps on the little sand city, and it squishes between his toes.

"Luke!" He looks at the window again to see that his Aunt magically appeared.

"Coming!" He looks around him quickly, just in case some Sand People come around, and he puts his boots back on his feet. He runs into the house, pretending that his Jedi action figure is flying the Naboo Starfighter.

He plops himself down at the table across from Uncle Owen. "Guess what I did today, Uncle Owen!" Uncle Owen gives a little smile.

"What did you do? I see you're covered in sand." Aunt Beru sits down beside Luke, and ruffles his sun-bleached hair with her fingers. Sand sprinkles down onto his shoulders. She wipes her fingers on the skirt of her dress.

"Yeah, what _were_ you doing? You're going to need a really good bath to get all this sand out of you!" She reaches over to the middle of the table, scoops some Womp Rat stew into a bowl, and places it in front of the boy. Luke takes a bite of stew.

"I tried chasing a Womp Rat this morning!" He looks down at his bowl. "You didn't cook him, did you Aunt Beru?" He takes another bite, and continues. "And after that, I was being a pilot with my toy shuttle, and then I made a city in the sand and started playing with my Starfighter and my Jedi!" He takes a third bite of stew, and smiles happily.

"Sounds like you had quite the day!" Aunt Beru pats his shoulder lightly. Uncle Owen blows on his spoonful of broth.

"He's full of energy," he says quietly. "A lot like his father when he was young." Aunt Beru shoots Owen a look from across the table, and Owen shoves the spoon into his mouth. Luke doesn't really hear what Owen says. He looks at his uncle and wrinkles his eyebrows.

"What did you say?"

"Uh, after you're done eating, you have to comb the sand out of your hair and have a bath. And then you need to go to bed. We're going to have a busy day tomorrow." Luke's eyes light up.

"We're going to Mos Eisley?" He asks excitedly. Uncle Owen nods, putting another spoonful into his mouth. Luke grins. "I get to play with Grizz and Fixer tomorrow!" He pushes his empty bowl in front of him, jumps down from his seat, and runs off to his bedroom.


	2. Sandstorm

_Don't let go of my hand!_ Aunt Beru's words play inside Luke's head over and over. He should have listened. But holding your Aunt's hand when you're eight years old? In public? No way! Luke wouldn't have any of it. Instead, he hung onto her jacket sleeve and trailed behind her. That was until some lady with a great big cart passed them by and knocked Luke onto his back. Now, Luke wanders around the busy market place, searching desperately for some sign of Aunt Beru or Uncle Owen. Do they know he's gone? Luke takes a deep breath, starting to worry. Maybe he _should_ have held Aunt Beru's hand. She said that the market gets very busy when things go on sale, and it is easy to get lost. He should have listened to her.

He can feel the hot sand on the soles of his feet, even through his boots. He stops and lifts up one foot. A few tears in worn out places remind him that he should probably ask his Aunt if she would make him some new ones. If he ever finds her. He passes by a spice vendor, and plugs his nose tightly, hoping the smiling old woman sitting beneath the awning of her cart won't notice. He isn't trying to be rude, but the smell of all the different spices mixed together causes the inside of his nose to burn, and sometimes, it makes him feel like throwing up. What's worse is that he's passed by her at least three or four times now, and he still hasn't found Aunt Beru or Uncle Owen. He searches around quickly, having to keep walking forward so that he doesn't get in anybody's way. He glances over at a stand with cooked and fried birds hanging from its awning. The smell tempts him to come over there, but he thinks that would be weird, especially because Fixer and his dad aren't working the stand this week. Instead, a tanned young woman is busy hanging up the birds, and then selling them. She looks like Aunt Beru, but Luke knows that it's not really her. Aunt Beru has darker hair. This woman's hair looks like it's white, even though she's not old. _She's pretty_, Luke decides.

He hopes they're looking for him. He tries to listen carefully for Aunt Beru or Uncle Owen's voice, but all he can hear is the loud hum of everybody's idle chatter, and soon, he wants to give up hoping. He tries to cut his way through the crowd, so he can find a place to sit down. All this walking has been tiring out his legs, and a pain is starting to creep through his side. He weaves his way through carts, children, parents, and even a womp rat. He looks down at the ground, looking for a break in the crowd where he can escape. Then, he finds himself being struck in the side by a boot, and he lands on the ground hard. A strong hand wraps around his wrist, and Luke finds himself being jerked up, back to his feet. He looks up, and he's not sure if the person he's looking at is a man, or an old teenager. Their eyes meet, and Luke rubs his side, trying not to cry.

"Watch where you're going, whelp!" He lets go of Luke's wrist. Luke rubs the red finger marks on his skin.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I-I was just looking for my Aunt. I can't find her." The other boy rolls his eyes.

"You're lost? You should have been holding her hand!" He grins to himself. Luke frowns.

"That's not funny. And you hurt my side!"

"Wasn't my fault! You were in the way when I was walking!" The other boy's face softens a little. "So you're lost. And you're looking for who?"

"My Aunt. Her name is Beru." The older boy shakes his head slowly. He tugs on the hem of his vest.

"Probably don't know her." He pauses. "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Luke Skywalker," Luke tries to puff up his chest so that it will look like the older boy's. _He's tough,_ Luke notes to himself. _Maybe I should be, too._ "So who are you? Some old teenager?" The other boy laughs.

"I'm Han," he says. "I'm sixteen, so yeah, I guess I am some old teenager." Han chuckles. "You seem like an interesting kid, Luke." He softly drums his fingers against the blaster tucked securely away in his belt.

"Why do you have a blaster?" Han raises his eyebrows incredulously. Luke knows this expression well; adults give him this look all the time when he tells them that he wants to be a pilot.

"'Cause I'm a smuggler," Han says cooly. "And I kinda need it, just in case I get into trouble."

"A smuggler?" Luke's blue eyes widen. "Really?"

"Well, sort of. I go on a few missions with some friends of mine." He nods slowly, and stares off into the busy market square for a moment. "So, what does your Aunt look like?"

"Well, she's pretty. And she's got dark blonde hair, and it's in a whole bunch of braids. And she's wearing a blue dress. I'll tell you if we find her."

"If? You mean _when_. _When_ we find her."

Luke starts to wonder if it would be weird to hold on to Han's sleeve, as they weave in and out through the crowd. The crowd had thinned out a little bit in the fifteen or so minutes they spent looking for Aunt Beru. Luke wonders just how long he's been outside for, anyway. He also wonders if Aunt Beru even knows he's gone. A strong gust of wind comes up from behind the boys, and Han shouts a word Luke has never heard before, as the young man tries feverently to shake the sand out of his blue shirt. Han looks down at Luke quickly.

"Don't repeat that word, okay kid?" He laughs. "Even though you're gonna end up hearing a lot worse anyway!" Luke wrinkles his eyebrow. "Never mind," Han dismisses.

"Okay..." Luke reaches up to take Han's sleeve between his fingertips, but Han lifts his arm and points at a woman in front of them.

"Is that her?" Luke looks up and studies the back of the woman's dress. Aunt Beru's dress is long, and covers her ankles. This woman's dress is very short, and her legs are mostly covered by really high boots with flat soles. Aunt Beru is wearing sandals. Luke shakes his head sadly. Han sighs. Another huge gust of wind comes up, and soon, Luke finds that the back of his head has been pelted hard with sand.

"This wind is starting to bother me!" Han complains.

"I'm used to it," Luke replies. "But I think this means we're going to have a sandstorm pretty soon."

"Really?" Han pouts his lips for a moment, then sucks his bottom lip back in. "Well this is just great. Look, Luke, we're going to have to hurry if you're going to find your Aunt before the storm comes. If there's even one coming."

"I know."

Han and Luke walk around the market place once again, scanning the ever-shrinking group of people. The wind has gotten stronger, and now, instead of random gusts from behind, sand is being whipped and flown around in one hard gale. The young woman at the poultry stand is busy untying the birds and putting them in baskets. The old woman selling spices has closed her stand completely, and she and a younger woman make their way out of the market place. The world around them seems to go dim for a moment, and Luke looks up at the sky with squinted eyes to see that a huge cloud of dust had blocked out the suns. Instantly, everybody in the crowd began to pick up their pace, and Luke couldn't help but overhear _sandstorm_ from everyone. His heart begins to beat quickly. He has to find Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. He hopes they're not too worried about him. Then, he realizes something. Uncle Owen is going to be very, very angry.

Luke swallows hard, trying not to think about what his uncle is going to say to him later. He takes a deep breath in, and then lets it out in a sneeze. He sneezes again, and again. Han looks down at him.

"You okay?" Luke nods, and sneezes a fourth time.

"I breathed in a bunch of sand!" Han snorts.

"That's why you shouldn't be all huffy like that on this planet. Don't worry, we'll find your Aunt Beru." At that moment, a breath of wind much stronger than anything Luke has felt in a long time blows up in front of them, shooting sand into their faces.

"Ahh!" Han cries out. "Bantha shi- I mean- fodder!" Luke's eyes are burning. Big teardrops roll down his face, and he lets out a frustrated groan. Han grabs Luke's wrist again, and he takes off in a run, Luke trailing behind as fast as his legs can carry him. "We're gonna go between those two buildings over there! We can get out of the wind that way!"

"What about-"

"Your Aunt? She's probably in some sort of shelter. It'll be okay. We'll look for her after the wind dies down." He and Luke crash into a couple of old crates in between two old buildings near the market. Han stacks the crates on top of each other, and blocks the wind out from their hiding place. He runs his fingers through his hair, and sand rains down onto the toe of his boot. He sighs.

After a few moments, the hustling and noise of the people outside fades out, and eventually disappears. Luke rubs his eyes, which still hurt. They begin to water all over again. He and Han sit down on the ground, and Han looks at Luke's red face.

"Crying?" Luke nods.

"Only because I got a bunch of sand in my face, and it really burns! I'm not a baby!"

"I wasn't going to call you a baby," Han says. "It does hurt getting sand in the face. Are you worried about your Aunt?" Luke nods again.

"And my uncle," he says. He looks down at his boot, and idly starts tracing patterns in the sand. "Aunt Beru will be happy once we find her, but Uncle Owen is gonna be so mad at me!" Luke resists the urge to cry for real. "He's going to yell at me!" He expects Han to laugh at him, or make fun of him, but instead, he doesn't.

"That's okay, kid," he says. "Before I ran away from home, my father was mean. REALLY mean. Actually, he wasn't even my real father. I'd get in trouble for everything. He'd hurt me too, sometimes."

"Really? My uncle gets mad at me lots, too! Aunt Beru says he's just trying to protect me, but I don't see how yelling and grounding me counts as protecting."

"Hmm. I kind of know what that's like, buddy. My father-" Han is cut off by a woman's voice outside their hiding place.

"Luke? Luke!" she calls. Luke lifts his head quickly. "Aunt Beru!" He calls back.

"Luke?" Luke stands up and pushes the crates over, letting the wind blow into their shelter. He jumps over the crates and into her arms. Han stands up slowly, shielding his face with his arm.

"Is that your kid?" he asks. Beru smiles.

"Yes! Thank you for watching him!"

"No problem." Beru looks at Han, and Luke senses that she feels concerned. She asks Han if he has anywhere to stay to get out of the storm.

"Yeah!" he says. He points at the building behind him. "There!" At that, he gives her a quick, friendly nod, and waves at Luke. "See ya, Luke!"

Aunt Beru grabs Luke's hand tightly, and the two of them run towards their speeder, Uncle Owen following behind. Luke hopes that they get home before the storm gets really bad, and that Uncle Owen doesn't decide to cast a storm of his own when they get home.


	3. Parents

"Aunt Beru," A question has been sitting inside Luke's head all day, and he can't keep it inside any more. "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but why don't I have a mom and a dad?" Aunt Beru stops stirring the pot of soup on the stove, and looks down at her nephew.

"Why would that hurt my feelings?" she asks gently. Luke shrugs his shoulders.

"I asked Uncle Owen the same thing, and he got upset. I think it hurt his feelings." Aunt Beru turns down the temperature on the stove, and kneels down in front of Luke. She takes his hand in hers, and takes a deep breath. "Well sweetie, you don't have a mother or father because-"

"Beru." Owen walks into the kitchen and gives his wife a look that Luke realizes means 'be quiet'. Aunt Beru looks up at him, and back down at Luke.

"Well," she tries again. "Some kids are raised with a mother and a father, and some aren't. Some kids only have one parent, or just like you, are raised by other family members." She looks back at her husband. He huffs and walks over to the pot of soup. He takes a sniff of it, and makes a grunt of approval. He walks out of the kitchen, and then out of the house.

"Well, I get that I don't have a mom or dad," Luke says. "But I just wanna know how come." Aunt Beru holds on to his other hand.

"Honey, your mother and father both passed away when you were very little. You were just a baby." Luke thinks about this for a moment, and then nods his head.

"Okay." He looks at his feet, then back up at his Aunt. "I love you, Aunt Beru." She smiles.

"I love you too, Luke."


	4. The Screwdriver

Uncle Owen has turned the house upside down. He and Aunt Beru have been looking for a screwdriver all morning, and so far, it hasn't turned up. Luke doesn't understand what on Tatooine they need it for, but he does know that Uncle Owen isn't too happy about it.

"Uncle Owen?" Luke walks up beind his uncle and taps on his arm. Uncle Owen turns around.

"What?" His response startles Luke a little bit. Luke questions whether it's worth asking if he can help look for the screwdriver, since he didn't realize just how cranky his uncle really is today. "What?" Owen asks again, his voice a little quieter.

"Um, can I help you look for the screw driver?"

"Sure, sure. You can start by looking under the stove here; you're small enough."

"Are you looking for the one with the red handle, or the one with the green handle?"

"The red one. Why? Do you know where it is?" Luke is pretty sure he knows. He hasn't seen it lying around for a long time, but he has a suspicion that it's in the living room. Not just a suspicion. He knows it's there, but he doesn't know _how_ he knows.

"I think so," he says. "I think it's in the living room." he pauses. _Where in the living room?_ He starts to have another sneaky feeling. "It's under the couch!" Aunt Beru's voice from the other room proves that Luke is right.

"Found it!" she calls. "It was underneath the couch, just like Luke said!" She walks into the room with the small, dust covered tool in her hand, a big smile stretched across her face. "You've got a real talent for finding things, Luke! How did you know it was there?"

"Because the Force told me so!" Luke's Aunt and Uncle stare at him in shock.

"Because the what?" she asks. Luke starts to laugh.

"I'm kidding, Aunt Beru!" She starts to laugh, too. Uncle Owen doesn't join in. He furrows his eyebrows. He doesn't look happy.

"The only reason you know it was there was because YOU put it there!" He exclaims, pointing a finger at Luke. Luke raises his arms, and shakes his head slowly. He didn't put the screwdriver there at all. The last place he saw it was inside his Uncle's tool box, and then after that, it disappeared. That was a while ago, too.

"I did NOT!" Luke crosses his arms. "You can't say that!"

"Then how did you know where it was?"

"I don't know! I just knew it was there!"

"Because you HID it! Look, if you ever pull something like that again, you're grounded. You are going to be in trouble. Don't you ever hide my things again, you understand?"

"Owen," Aunt Beru says gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Luke didn't hide it. When I picked it up, it was covered in dust and lint. It's been under the couch for a long time." Owen takes a deep breath.

"I don't care," he says. "But Luke, if you did hide it, you better not do it again!" He takes the screwdriver from his wife, and puts it in his pocket. He gives Luke one more warning glare before heading outside to finish his chores. Luke uncrosses his arms, and soon, he starts to cry. Aunt Beru kneels down and puts her arms around the little boy.

"You're not in trouble," she whispers.

"Yeah, I am!" Luke whimpers.

"You're not in trouble with me. I don't think you hid the screwdriver, and that's what matters. Okay?" Luke nods, and sniffles. "I'll talk to your uncle about it. He's just had a hard morning." She gives Luke a kiss on his head, and wipes his tears away from his face. She gives him a sympathetic smile. Luke smiles back at her. "You know what I'll make him do?"

"What?"

"I'll make him clean the house because he messed it up so much from looking for the silly thing!" Luke giggles. "I have a question for you, dear."

"A question?"

"Yes." Beru looks her nephew in the eye. "Why did you say the Force told you where the screwdriver was?" Luke looks down at his feet, not sure how to answer. He didn't even realize he said that thing about the Force. He's not quite sure what the Force really is, either. All he knows about it was from a single lesson he was taught in school about the Jedi.

"Um, I don't know," he says. "In school the other day, we were learning about Jedi Knights, and my teacher said that they used the Force to help them do things like look for stuff." Aunt Beru ruffles the boy's sandy blonde hair.

"I see," she says. "Maybe a Jedi Knight had to look for a screwdriver too, hmm?" Luke nods, and leans his head against her shoulder.

"Maybe." He puts his arms around her neck. "I wish Uncle Owen used the Force to help him find it. Then he wouldn't have yelled at me."

"I know, Luke. I know. He just wasn't having a good morning, but he loves you a lot. He really does."

Inside, Luke isn't so sure if she's right.


	5. Jedi Knights

It's hard to pay attention in school when you sit right next to the window. Luke rests his chin in his hand, and watches the tan and sandy horizon for some sign of something interesting. A womp rat hopped by a few minutes ago, and towards the beginning of school, a little group of Jawas were busy chasing a runaway droid. Luke hears his teacher talking, but he's not listening to the words she's saying.

"We're going to learn a little bit more about the Jedi," she says. "Luke, do you know the names of any Jedi?" Luke doesn't hear her question. "Luke?" The class starts to whisper and laugh quietly as she walks over to where he sits on the floor. She places a hand on his head and starts messing up his hair. "Luke, pay attention!" Luke tears his eyes away from the window, and looks at his teacher. He can feel his face growing warmer and warmer, and he hopes it's not turning bright red. His teacher smiles. _It's a good thing she's nice_, Luke tells himself. She repeats her question. Luke places a finger to his chin, wondering if he does actually know the name of any Jedi.

"Well," he says. "I have a Jedi action figure, and on her shoe it says 'Two Suns Toys'!" The other kids start to giggle.

"No, that's not quite right," Teacher says, shaking her head. "Two Suns Toys is the company that made your toy." She takes a step back and looks at the other students. "Does anybody know?"

A little girl with curly hair so blonde that it's white raises her hand slowly. Teacher points at her.

"Darth Vader," she says quietly. The other kids look around at each other in surprise. Luke's heart thumps once in his chest. Darth Vader. He's sure he's heard that name before. He's never seen him in real life, though. He's only seen him in pictures and posters that stormtroopers used to post around Mos Eisley. Luke isn't sure if Darth Vader is even a person. He looks a lot like a robot to him...

Teacher makes a noise that Luke senses means she's impressed. "Yes," she says. "He's kind of a Jedi, but not exactly. I see your parents know who he is?" The white-haired girl nods her head.

"I saw a picture of him once," she says. "But that's all I know." The strange feeling in Luke's chest goes away.

"The Jedi used to exist a long time ago," Teacher says. "There used to be lots of them. They lived on almost every planet, and they would practice fighting in temples..." Luke looks back out the window. He's sure he saw another runaway droid.

"How was school today?" Uncle Owen steps out of the family's speeder and walks over to Luke. Luke shrugs.

"It was okay," he says. "Numbers class wasn't very fun, but we started learning about Jedi Knights!" Uncle Owen wrinkles his nose. He and Luke sit down in the speeder, and begin to fly home. "Teacher says that the Jedi died out a long time ago, but there were a few left not too long ago. Ten years ago, I think she said." He looks at his uncle. "Uncle Owen, did you ever know a Jedi Knight?" Uncle Owen says nothing. After a few minutes of silence, he speaks.

"We're not talking about this any more, alright?" Luke is confused. All he did was ask a question. He didn't think Uncle Owen would be so touchy about it! He's tempted to say just that, but he decides to bite his tongue. It's no use arguing with Uncle Owen, because Luke knows he's going to be sent to his room afterwards, anyway. This is a question he will save for Aunt Beru. Luke watches as the sand flies by underneath them, and he tries to count the sandcrawlers as he and Uncle Owen zoom by.

Finally, they reach their farm. Luke jumps out of the speeder and barrels into the house, his bookbag catching on the door frame as he runs into the kitchen. He hears a loud rip, and his books and papers spill out onto the floor. He falls onto the ground with his bag, realizing he was still holding onto it. He sits up, and rubs his knee. Aunt Beru rushes over.

"Luke, what happened? Are you okay?" Luke nods.

"Yeah," he says. He looks over at his torn book bag. "Oh no!" He picks it up, and sticks his hand through the huge rip. "Aunt Beru, can you fix it?" He hands it to her. She takes a long look at the rip.

"I can try," she says. "Be careful next time you come streaking into the house, alright?" She smiles. Uncle Owen comes in, and steps over the pile of papers and books.

"Luke, since when is it okay to drop your schoolwork on the floor?" Luke giggles.

"Since now!" he jokes. "I'll pick them up!" He stands up and gathers his schoolwork into his arms. He rushes off to his bedroom.

Luke finished his printing and numbers homework, and now he and Aunt Beru are sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for Uncle Owen to come in from his chores. Luke decides that this is the best time to ask her what Uncle Owen wouldn't answer.

"Aunt Beru?"

"Yes?"

"Today in school, we learned about Jedi Knights. Teacher said that they don't exist anymore, but they used to. Did you know a Jedi?" Aunt Beru says nothing for a few seconds.

"I met a couple. Once or twice. I didn't personally know one, though." Luke studies her face, and the way her lips move when she speaks. They look kind of stiff, like her words are forced. He's not sure what that means, but he decides it's best to just ignore that.

"Aunt Beru, I have another question." She tilts her head slightly.

"A girl in my school said something about this Darth Vader guy. Who's Darth Vader?" Aunt Beru looks down at her folded hands, and then back up at Luke.

"Luke, honey, I don't-" The door opens, and Uncle Owen walks in.

"It smells really good in here!" he says happily. "Guess what, dear!"

"Yes, Owen?"

"We've collected enough water today to last us about a week!" He sits down and scoops a huge helping of soup into his bowl.

"Thank the gods!" Aunt Beru says, smiling widely. Luke is excited about all the water they've collected, but nobody has answered his question.


	6. A Very Happy Birthday

Something feels different this morning. Luke opens his eyes tiredly, and rubs them. He sits up, stretches out first his arms, and then his legs, and lets a giant yawn escape his lips. His wavy blonde hair flops over an eye, and he blows it out of the way. He kicks his blanket off with his legs, and pulls at the loose nightshirt hanging on his body. It was very hot last night, and he knows that nights are only going to get hotter, now that their warmest season has started. He smiles. School had just ended, and yesterday was the last day. Luke tugs on the hem of his shirt, and then pulls it over his head. His chest feels sticky, and his hair is oily. Sweating overnight is one thing he hates. He'll have to ask his aunt or uncle if there's enough water for him to have a shower.

Luke knows what feels different about today. Today, he is officially another year older. He looks in his mirror. He doesn't _look _nine. He still looks like he's eight, and he still _feels_ eight years old. The same thing happened last year, too. It's weird how that works, he thinks. Every birthday, he'll still feel like the age he was before, and he won't feel the right age until his birthday the next year. He runs his fingers through his oily hair, and grins when his hair stands up, and doesn't come back down. Definitely time for a wash. In his undershorts, he walks out of his room, and into the kitchen. Aunt Beru turns around from her place at the kitchen counter.

"Good Morning, Luke!" she beams. "Happy Birthday!" Luke smiles.

"Thanks, Aunt Beru!" He runs up to her and gives her a hug. "Where's Uncle Owen?"

"Well," Aunt Beru replies. "He's in town. He's picking up your birthday gift from us!" Luke's eyes light up.

"Really?" He asks. "What is it?" Aunt Beru rumples his hair, makes a face, and wipes her hand on her shirt.

"It's a surprise!" she says. He bounces up and down a few times, excited. Last time Uncle Owen went into town to pick up his birthday gift, he recieved a model AT-AT playset that came with little storm trooper action figures. It was the coolest thing he'd ever been given.

"When's he coming back?" He asks excitedly. Aunt Beru shrugs her shoulders.

"He left before you were up, so I imagine he'll be back soon!" Luke smiles so hard, a squealy noise comes out of his mouth. Aunt Beru grins. Luke jumps up and runs for the living room, back to his bedroom, and back into the living room again.

"This is the best day ever!" He squeals. His blue eyes spark in excitement. He takes off again, running around excitedly in circles. He watches the ground zoom by around his feet, and throws his arms up in the air.

"Luke!" Aunt Beru exclaims. "Luke, you're going to run into something!" Luke knows, but he doesn't care. "Luke!" She rushes into the living room, and catches him as he runs toward her in the middle of his seventh or eighth lap. Luke feels dizzy. Maybe eight laps of the living room _wasn't_ necessary. She scoops him up and lifts him off the ground. They're both laughing. She sets him down, and rubs her arm. "My, but you're getting heavy! You're growing so much, sweetheart!" She leans down and plants a big kiss on the little boy's forehead. Luke hears the sound of a speeder outside. He looks towards the door, ecstatic.

"Uncle Owen?" Before Beru can catch him again, he takes off in a sprint for the door. He flings it open, and bounds outside into the warm air, not even caring to stop and put his sandals on. "Uncle Owen?" He shouts. The speeder he heard flies off, past the farm. That speeder is blue. Uncle Owen's is red. Luke walks back to the house, a little disappointed. "It wasn't him," he tells his aunt, closing the door behind him. He smiles again, though. "But he's gotta be back soon!" Aunt Beru nods.

"And he will be." She looks off at nothing for a moment, and then looks down at Luke. "That reminds me! You can invite some friends over for a little get-together sometime this week!"

"Like tomorrow?"

"Maybe not tomorrow, sweetie. That would be short notice." She opens a drawer, and pulls out a pencil and a scrap of paper. She and Luke sit down at the table. "Okay, you can have four kids come over, okay? Our house isn't quite big enough for more than that! Who would you want to invite?"

"Grizz, and Fixer, and Biggs!" Luke says quickly. He watches as his aunt scrawls out the names in her neat Galactic Basic printing.

"Who else?" Luke thinks this over for a moment, and then an idea comes into his head.

"Well, I don't think he should be here at the same time as the other boys, but can we have Ben come over?" Aunt Beru looks up at Luke.

"Ben... Kenobi?" Luke nods.

"I like Ben! Can he come over some other day?"

"Maybe some other day," she agrees. "Maybe he can come tomorrow night, and the other boys can come the night after that." Luke smiles.

"Great! I can't wait 'til then!"

Luke sits on the kitchen counter by the window, waiting. He had a great birthday supper with his aunt and uncle last night, and now, old Ben is coming over for supper. He was excited to go with Uncle Owen to Ben's house before supper last night, to see if he'd like to come over then, but he was busy. So now, he gets to come over tonight. So far, Luke sees no sign of Ben or his little speeder anywhere. He runs his fingers through his clean, smooth hair, and looks behind him to make sure that Aunt Beru doesn't catch him sitting on the counter. He watches as a little cloud of sand blows up from the ground, swirls around, and falls back down. He looks away, and jumps onto the floor.

"Aunt Beru? When is Ben coming?"

"He'll be here soon," she says. "Why don't you play with your new toy shuttle until he gets here?" Luke scampers into the living room and picks up his shuttle. He runs to his room, gets his toy AT-AT, Stormtrooper, Rodian, and Jedi action figures, and comes back to the living room. He arranges his Stormtroopers in a row, and places his Jedi and Rodian in front of them. The miniature lightsaber falls out of the Jedi's hand.

"Oh dear," Luke says. "This could be a problem in a real battle!" He snaps the blue lightsaber back into the toy's hand. "There we go!" He throws the Jedi toy at the row of Stormtroopers, and they all fall over in a pile. The one remaining Stormtrooper is quickly knocked over with a flick of Luke's finger. He picks up the Rodian, and looks at it intently. "Now," he says to it. "What are you going to do?" He puts the action figure on top of the AT-AT's back, and pretends to shoot it. "Yaahhh!" He bends the AT-AT's legs until it crumples and looks like it's a giant animal kneeling down. "I've defeated the Emp-"

"Hello, Luke!" Luke turns around quickly to see Ben Kenobi standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. Luke jumps up.

"Hi, Ben!"

"Happy Birthday, Luke! I've got a little gift for you." He hands Luke a little box wrapped in brown paper. "I know how much you like flying and ships." Luke unwraps the ribbon, and peels off the paper. He opens the little black box. Inside it sits a little silver ship, with little windows carved delicately into its sides. Luke looks up at Ben, and smiles. Ben smiles back.

"Thank you, Ben!" He beams. "What kind of ship is it?"

"It's a Jedi Starfighter," Ben explains. "Long, _long_ ago, some Jedi Knights used to fly around in these!" Luke can hardly believe it. Ben knows what some of the Jedi used to fly in?

"Wow! Ben, how do you _know_ that?"

"Ben knows many things," Aunt Beru pipes up. "I'm surprised you didn't hear him come in!"

"I was busy playing," Luke admits.

"I think it's time we have some supper," Uncle Owen cuts in. "But first, Luke, you should put that up in your room, where it won't get lost! It's very nice!" Luke nods, and takes off. "Wait!" Luke turns around. Uncle Owen points at the toys on the floor.

"Oh.." Luke scoops up the action figures, and carries them in his shirt. He takes the AT-AT in one hand, and heads for his room. He drops the toys into his toybox, and places the tiny metal ship on his dresser. He rushes back to the living room to pick up his new shuttle, and his toy Naboo Starfighter. He drops those into his toybox, as well.

Aunt Beru has already dished up everybody's plates with vegetables and Womp Rat meat. Luke is welcomed to the table by the smell. Womp Rat meat is is favourite kind of meat. He grins happily to himself. This has been a very happy birthday.


	7. Brown Eyed Girl

Luke holds onto Aunt Beru's hand tightly. He doesn't want to get lost in the market again, like he did three months ago. That was the last time he went to the market with her, he realized. That was probably because Uncle Owen didn't want to have to look for him again, especially in a sandstorm. Maybe that's why only Aunt Beru would go to Mos Eisley to buy groceries, while Uncle Owen stayed home. He's not too sure, but he does know that Uncle Owen doesn't mind him going with again.

"My, Luke, but you're holding on tight!" Aunt Beru remarks. Luke nods.

"I got stuck in a sandstorm last time I didn't hold your hand, remember?" Aunt Beru chuckles.

"I'm glad you've learned. When you're older, you don't have to hold my hand. But for now, you do." Luke sighs.

"Okay..." He looks around at the crowd of people, hoping to see that one teenager he met last time. He thinks back as far as he can, and tries desperately to remember the boy's name. _It started with an H. Or maybe it was an O._ He can't remember. He remembers his face, though. He remembers the older boy's shaggy brown hair, lopsided grin, and a strange scar on his chin. He was wearing a vest that day, too. Luke gets a feeling that the boy liked wearing vests. He decides to look for him.

Aunt Beru heads towards the spice vendor, and Luke can already feel his nose start to burn. He reaches up and plugs it, hoping the old woman selling the spices doesn't notice.

"Hello, Beru!" The old woman says cheerfully.

"Good Morning, Katya! What have you got for spices today?" Luke tunes out the conversation, and keeps scanning the market place to see if Han is there. He knows he's probably not, but part of him is still hoping that there could be a chance. Then, he sees him. A tall man stands by a fruit cart, facing away from Luke. The man tugs on his black vest, and pulls on the hem of his red shirt. He pats the blaster held securely in its holster. _Han!_ he wants to cry out. The young man turns around, and Luke is disappointed to see that it's not Han at all. To his surprise, who he thought was Han was actually a tall young woman! The woman runs her fingers through her short brown hair, and pulls up the front of her shirt. She looks around, as if she's trying to find someone, and she walks away.

Luke looks down at his new boots, and scuffs the ground beneath him. He does it again, and again.

"Luke!" Aunt Beru whispers sharply. "Stop. You're going to wreck your boots!" Luke looks up and gives his aunt his best "I'm sorry" look. Aunt Beru turns back to Katya, and they keep talking. Luke lets go of Beru's hand, and crosses his arms, bored. He takes a few steps away from her, hoping to get away from the strong smell of all the spices. No wonder Aunt Beru is one of the only people who actually come up and buy things from this old woman! Luke looks off at a huge sandcrawler in the distance. Then, someone bumps into him.

"Watch where you're going!" He says. He looks at the little girl in front of him, and his face goes warm. "Um, I'm sorry," he says. "I thought you were a grown-up." The girl raises an eyebrow.

"Uh, no," she replies. She smoothes a hand over the thick braids bundled up on her head. Luke has never seen hair like that before. The braids remind him of long snakes. The little girl blinks some sand out of her big brown eyes, and looks back at Luke. "What's your name?" She asks.

"I- I'm Luke," Luke says, suddenly feeling shy. He hopes his face isn't turning pink. He runs his fingers through his hair, something he does when he's nervous. "What's your name?" The girl doesn't seem to hear him. She's looking around absently. Luke senses she's distressed. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know where my parents are," she says, still looking around. "Last time I saw them, they were right here, and then they went somewhere!"

"So, you're lost?" The little girl looks at Luke and raises her eyebrows.

"Lost? No way! _They_ got lost!" she shakes her head at Luke. "I have to find them!" She starts looking around again. This is Luke's chance! Han helped him find Aunt Beru, so maybe he should help this girl find her parents.

"I'll help you look for them," he offers. "My Aunt is busy over there," he points at the spice cart. "She won't know I'm gone!" The girl nods.

"Alright, sure. My mother is wearing a green dress with a black cape, and her hair is really long and curly. And my father's wearing a blue shirt and grey pants."

"Okay, let's look!"

Today, it seems that a lot of women decided to wear green dresses. Luke lost count after five women they had run up to and tapped on the back, only to find that she wasn't the little girl's mother. They stop walking, and the girl sighs. She hangs her head. "I don't think we're going to find them," she says sadly.

"We'll find them," Luke says, trying to encourage her. "I asked you this before, but you didn't say anything. Um, what's your name?"

"My name? You don't know me?" Luke shakes his head.

"Was I supposed to?" The girl rolls her eyes.

"I'm Leia. I'm the Princess of Alderaan. Well, I'm _going_ to be." A princess? Luke is surprised. He's never helped a princess before. But what in the world is Alderaan?

"Alderaan?"

"Yeah. I live there. It's my homeworld. You haven't been there?" Luke shakes his head.

"I haven't been away from Tatooine," he admits.

"Really?" He shakes his head. Leia starts telling him about Alderaan, and how pretty it is. Apparently, Alderaan has lots of mountains, trees, and forests, and there are lakes and oceans just about everywhere. "You should come live there," she finishes her spiel with. "Luke, I have an idea." She takes Luke by his wrist and takes him back over to where they first met. "If we stay right here, I bet my parents will come right back to this spot!"

"Maybe. But what are we going to do while we wait?" Luke glances over to the spice cart to see if Aunt Beru is still there. She is. _How long has she been talking to that lady?_ Luke wonders. Aunt Beru turns around, sees Luke, and smiles. She gives a polite wave at Leia. Leia waves back.

"Who's that?" Leia whispers to Luke.

"Oh, she's my Aunt!" Luke says. Leia nods.

"I hope my parents get here soon!"

Luke isn't sure how long he and Leia have been standing around. A few minutes ago, Aunt Beru told Luke that she was going to pick up a few more things for supper, and that she wants Luke to meet her at their speeder when the market closes. He knows where the speeder is, so he's not worried about getting lost, like last time. "Leia," he asks. "I'm curious. What's space travel like?" Leia shrugs her shoulders.

"I'm used to it," she says. "My parents travel everywhere, and I have to go with them. They're senators, you know. They came to Mos Eisley to meet with some fancy government lady."

"Really?" Luke doesn't know what a senator is, but he doesn't feel like asking Leia. She'd probably think he was stupid. Leia nods.

"And I wanna be one, too. Mother says that I'll be the Princess of my planet, though."

"I want to be a pilot," Luke says. "And I really wanna know what it's like to fly in space!"

"Well, you throw up the first few times if you eat too much," Leia says. "I learned that the hard way!" She and Luke both wrinkle their noses. "But the third time you go out into space, it's okay. You don't feel sick any more after three or four flights." She pauses. "Why would you want to be a pilot?"

"Well," Luke says. "I like ships, and I think it would be so much fun to fly one! I wanna go on adventures, and save planets!"

"So, you wanna be a Rebel?" Luke isn't sure what Leia means. He raises an eyebrow in confusion. "You know, a Rebel! My parents are Rebels! My father pretty much started the Rebel Alliance!" Luke nods quickly, pretending to know what the Rebel Alliance is. He'll have to ask Aunt Beru. He gets the sneaky feeling that she's not going to tell him, though. He watches her little round face as she talks. Her eyes sparkle a lot, he notices. And he still thinks her hair looks like snakes.

"Leia? Why is your hair like that?" Leia reaches up and touches her braids.

"What do you mean?" Luke laughs.

"I think those braids look like snakes!" Leia frowns. She runs her finger along one of them, but then a smile comes to her face. She says that her mother braided her hair, and she admits that they do look a little bit like snakes. She starts to giggle.

"Well, do you think my hair's pretty?" She asks. Luke feels his face go warm all over again.

"Well, um, yeah. I think you're pretty!" Leia blushes.

"Thank you," she says quietly, looking down and burying her face into her shoulder.

"Leia!" A man's voice calls. "Leia Organa!" Leia's face lights up.

"Father!" The man rushes over. He's a big man, with tanned skin and a round belly. His black hair is cut very short. Soon, a tall, thin woman comes over. Luke can't take his eyes off her face. She's beautiful, just like Leia. But Leia doesn't look much like her parents, he thinks. He wonders why. Leia points at Luke. "This is Luke! He's my friend!" Leia's father smiles politely.

"Hello, Luke." he looks at Leia. "You can't wander off like that, alright?"

"But I didn't-" Leia protests. Her mother shushes her.

"We have to go," she says. She looks at Luke and places a hand on his hair. "It was nice to meet you, hun." The last thing Luke sees of Leia is her big brown eyes watching him sadly as her parents lead her away, back to their ship. Luke sighs once they're out of sight. He might as well go to the speeder and wait for Aunt Beru. The market is going to close anyway.

Luke sees Aunt Beru heading towards the speeder from the opposite direction. She smiles at him.

"So, Lukie?" She teases. "Who was _that_ little girl you were with? She was sure a pretty thing!" Luke looks down at his feet. Aunt Beru laughs.

"Her name was Leia," Luke says quietly. "I was helping her find her parents. She got lost. She's a princess, too!" Aunt Beru looks confused. "Well, she's _almost_ a Princess. She comes from a different planet. Alder-something." Aunt Beru raises her eyebrows.

"Alderaan?" Luke nods.

"Yeah! That place!" He and Aunt Beru get into the speeder. Aunt Beru places her big paper bags in the back seat. "She said that her mom and dad were senators, and rebels. Aunt Beru, what's a senator?"

"Um, a senator is someone who helps rule a planet," she explains. "They do other things, too, but they usually make up laws for different parts of their planet."

"Okay." Luke still doesn't really understand. "Then, what's the Rebel Alliance?"

"Um," Aunt Beru sounds like she doesn't know what to say. "They're kind of like an army." Luke senses that she's thinking really hard about something.

"Aunt Beru, what are you thinking about?" She looks at him briefly, then back at the ground zooming by below.

"The little girl you met. Her name was Leia?"

"Yeah!"

"And her parents are senators _and_ rebels?"

"Yeah! Why, do you know her?" Aunt Beru shakes her head.

"No. Not at all."


	8. I'm Running Away!

"Luke!" Uncle Owen barks. "Luke, you're so clumsy sometimes!" Luke rubs his knee, which is throbbing painfully. Tears are streaming down his face.

"Uncle Owen, I didn't mean to!" he shouts through his tears. He rolls up his pant leg, and cringes as a salty teardrop falls into the big red scrape spread across his skin. He pushes his pant leg back down, and puts his sandal back on. He looks at the piece of metal in his palm. Uncle Owen leans down and snatches it out of the boy's hand.

"I told you to be careful standing on top of the moisture tank, and what do you do? You hold on to _this_ piece here," he holds up his hand with the piece of the tank in it. "And you decide to break it off the tank!" Luke starts to sob.

"I fell! I didn't mean to break the antenna off! It was YOUR fault for making me stand up there, anyway!" Uncle Owen grunts and shakes his head. Luke's hand starts to sting. He looks down at his palm, and tries to pick out the little blue metal splinters the piece of antenna left. He sniffles. He pulls out a piece, and his hand starts to bleed. "Oww!" He takes a breath in, and wipes his nose on his jacket sleeve.

"It was your fault for losing your balance!" He scolds. "Hell, I'm glad you're just going to be a farmer, and not some sort of Jedi! You'd be dead in minutes if you were!" Luke hangs his head. Those words have broken his heart. How could his own uncle say something like that? He shakes his head, and sniffles again. He watches his uncle try to fit the antenna back in place, drop it on the ground, and put a hand to his mouth. Luke smirks.

"Metal splinters hurt, don't they?" He asks, using the sharpest tone of voice he can. No matter how meanly he says it, though, it won't take away the pain of being told that he's too clumsy to be a Jedi. Uncle Owen turns his head, and glares at Luke.

"You shut up!" He replies tersely. "I've had enough of you. Try doing something useful." He points at the house. Luke turns, and runs for the house.

He slams the door behind him. He wishes Aunt Beru was home to ask him what happened, but she's gone to visit a neighbour. Uncle Owen will tell her his side of the story, anyhow. Luke crosses his arms, and slinks sadly to his room. He picks up his toy shuttle and some Stormtroopers, but he realizes that he doesn't feel like playing. He's probably so clumsy, he'd break his toys, anyway. He groans. He plops down on his bed, and buries his face in his hands, sulking. He's not good enough for Uncle Owen. He broke the antenna on the moisture tank. Without the antenna, the tank doesn't suck up the ground water properly. He starts to cry all over again. He _broke_ the tank. He sighs. At least they have another one that they could use until that one gets fixed. Uncle Owen's words come back and start playing in Luke's ears. He didn't mean to fall off the tank. He took a bad step, and the only thing he _could _do was fall, if he didn't want to break his ankle. He landed hard on his knee, and scraped it against a rock. Nothing hurts worse, Luke decides, than scraping your knee on a rock.

"I'm no good for Uncle Owen," he pouts to himself. "He thinks I'm useless. And now I can't even be a Jedi." He shakes his head. "I'm probably doomed." Then, he gets an idea. He doesn't want to get back at Uncle Owen. He's already tried that once when he was littler, and it didn't work so well. Apparently, Jawas only take droids, not cranky uncles. He has a better idea than selling Uncle Owen. He's going to run away. He smiles at the thought. He might just be better off without him. He will be Luke Skywalker the adventurer, and he'll live off by himself where Uncle Owen won't get mad at him anymore! He thinks about Aunt Beru. _She'd miss me lots..._ he ponders this for a moment. _I know! I'll come back and tell her where I live, and she can come visit me, but Uncle Owen won't be allowed to! _He is starting to like this idea. He's going to be a hermit. _Just like Ben!_ He picks up his bookbag from the corner of his room, and admires the tight stitching Aunt Beru had to do to fix the giant rip he made in it a few months ago. He pulls open his dresser drawers, and throws in everything he's sure he's going to need.

He stuffs two shirts in his bag, along with a few pairs of leggings. He's just about to snap the buckles on the bag shut, but then he remembers. Aunt Beru would probably tell him to pack undershorts. He pushes his drawers closed, and then opens the very top one. He takes a blue pair of shorts and two or three white pairs. He shoves those down into the bottom of his bag. What else to pack? He grabs a handful of Stormtroopers, and his Jedi action figure. He puts those in a pocket on his bag, and snaps it shut. He fills the other pockets with a pair of socks, and a few handfuls of the little mint candies Aunt Beru keeps in a small bowl on the kitchen counter. He looks out the window, and puts his jacket back on. Uncle Owen is still trying to fix the water tank. Luke climbs up onto the counter, and pushes the window open.

"Hey, Uncle Owen!" he yells. Uncle Owen doesn't look over at him. _He must still be mad at me._ "Uncle Owen, I'm running away!" Uncle Owen still doesn't answer. "And I'm going to be a hermit and be a Jedi and live in my own house, and Aunt Beru can visit me, but you CAN'T!" He sticks his tongue out and blows a raspberry in Owen's direction. He closes the window, and sneaks out the door, closing it quietly behind him. He slings his bag over his shoulder, and takes off for the west, the opposite direction of Uncle Owen. He runs for a few seconds, and then stops. He should have written a note for Aunt Beru! He puts a hand on his forehead. How could he have forgotten! Then, he realizes. If he's going to come back to tell her where his new house is, she'll have already guessed that he had run away. He decides that it's nothing to worry about, and he keeps on running.

The ground looks like a blur beneath his sandaled feet, and Luke smiles. He feels like he's flying. He puts his hands up, holding an invisible steering wheel. "Commander, this is Luke!" he shouts, pretending to yell into a headset. "My ship is doing just fine, and I'm gonna shoot down that big old AT-AT over there!" He tries to imitate the sound of blaster bolts, but accidently ends up spitting on himself. He wipes his mouth. He jumps up and imagines a huge explosion behind him. "Commander, I got it!" A painful cramp starts in Luke's side. He slows down, and eventually stops. He doubles over, and tries to take a deep breath. Maybe he should just walk the rest of the way to his new home. Wherever it might be. He wonders if maybe there's a cave near by that he can live in.

"Luke! Luke!" Uncle Owen's voice sounds far away. Luke looks back to see just how far he ran. He can hardly see the house anymore. He sees Uncle Owen's form as it climbs down from the tank. He hears a crash, and Uncle Owen curses loudly. Luke turns back and starts to run again. _He's still mad!_ Uncle Owen yells again, but Luke is too far away to hear any specific words. He looks out at the horizon. He's happy there's no wind today. A sandstorm is the last thing this boy needs. The two suns are starting to set, and the sand before him is now painted a golden red colour. He sees the shape of a huge sandcrawler far ahead of him. He wonders if that's the abandoned one that Uncle Owen sometimes talks about. Luke gets an idea. Maybe he'll live in the abandoned sandcrawler! Better yet, maybe he'll sell droids with a group of Jawas until he has enough money to be a hermit who buys his own groceries. Maybe he would buy a speeder, too! He decides to think about that once he gets to the sandcrawler.

He hears footsteps coming towards him. He gasps, and looks around him quickly. How could Uncle Owen run so fast? If that's Uncle Owen at all. _What if it isn't?_ Luke swallows hard. The footsteps stop. He breathes a sigh of relief. Nothing to be worried about. He keeps walking across the rippled sand. Soon, the sand doesn't feel so soft anymore. He hears tiny rocks and loose chunks of hardened sand crumble under his feet with each step. A pain shoots through his scraped knee. He takes a sharp breath. He thinks he should stop, but he knows he can't. A true adventurer Jedi pilot hermit does not stop because of a scraped knee, no matter how much it hurts! He just couldn't do that. But his knee is starting to hurt a lot worse than it did when he fell off the tank. Maybe a short break wouldn't hurt.

He sits himself down on the ground, and rolls up his pant leg. A giant purple bruise has started to form around the scrape, and he notices a few red spots on his pants. He gently brushes his finger across the scrape, and winces. It stings! He sees a light red stain on the pad of his finger. He should have packed a few bandages. He opens a pocket on his bag, and takes a couple of mint candies. He pops them into his mouth, and sucks on them absently.

He turns around at the pit-pat of footsteps on sand behind him. A man in a long brown robe with a hood over his face stands behind Luke. Luke stands up, and whimpers at his knee's painful protest. He looks up at the man, and the man pulls his hood down.

"Hello, son! What are you doing out here?" Ben smiles warmly.

"I'm running away, Ben!" Luke replies. "I'm going to live in that sandcrawler over there!" He points off into the distance. "I'm going to be an adventurer Jedi pilot, _and_ a hermit, kind of like you!" Ben's eyes widen, and he snorts. Luke can tell he's trying not to laugh.

"My, but that's a long way to walk!" He shakes his head slowly, and strokes his beard.

"Ben, why are you doing that to your beard?" Ben chuckles.

"Men like to do that when they think. When you get a beard, you'll do that, too." Luke reaches up and feels his smooth chin.

"I don't have a beard," Luke says, a little disappointed.

"In time, you will. But you can always pretend!" Luke grins.

"Ben, what are you thinking about?" Ben ruffles Luke's shaggy hair.

"I'm thinking you need to tell me why you're running away from home," he says. "I sense that there's more to it than wanting to live in a sandcrawler and be a hermit. We'll go to my house. It's not safe for young boys like us to be out here by ourselves!"

Luke pats the thick bandage Ben wrapped around his knee. The plant oil he put on the scrape still makes his skin tingle a little, but he's just glad it doesn't hurt anymore. Ben sits down in the living room beside Luke. He and Luke both take a mint from the bag. The mints got a little bit hot from being out in the suns, and they started to melt and get all sticky.

"Now tell me, Luke. What happened?"

"Well," Luke starts. "I was helping Uncle Owen put in a new moisture tank, and he told me to stand on top of it to make sure it was pushed into the ground far enough. But, I kind of tripped, and I didn't want to hurt my ankle, so I grabbed the antenna on the top so I wouldn't fall. But the antenna broke off, and I hit my knee on a rock, and I have a whole bunch of metal splinters in my hand." Ben nods slowly, and pops another mint into his mouth.

"That's not all, is it?" Luke shakes his head. He looks down at his dirty toes, and wonders how many washes it will take to get all the sand out from his toenails.

"Uncle Owen got really mad. He yelled at me, and he hurt my feelings."

"What did he say?"

"He said that I was clumsy, and that I wouldn't be a good Jedi. He said I would be dead in a few minutes if I was one. And he told me to go be useful somewhere else!" Ben tisks, and shakes his head.

"Those are nasty things to say, wouldn't you think?"

"Oh, yes," Luke replies. "But what really hurt my feelings is when he said he was glad I was only going to be a farmer and not a Jedi." He feels Ben place a hand on his shoulder.

"Luke, I'm sure he didn't mean what he said. You see, when people get angry, they say things that they don't really mean. I'm sure you've done it. We all have, even me!"

"Even you?" Ben nods.

"Yes, my friend." He pats Luke's shoulder. "Now, I don't think you're too clumsy. I think you'd make a great Jedi!" He smiles and stares at something on the other side of the room. "And I know your uncle loves you lots. Sometimes, we forget that when someone we love is mad at us. But he cares an awful lot about you. So, I think you should go back to your home."

"The sandcrawler?" Ben smiles, and shakes his head.

"No. I mean your _real_ home. I'm sure your aunt and uncle are worried about you!" Luke strokes his invisible chin. He never thought about that. Ben gets up, and helps Luke stand to his feet. "How's that bandage holding up?"

"Fine," Luke says, wiggling his leg a little.

"If it starts hurting on our way to your house, I can carry you on my back."

It's almost dark out when Luke and Ben get back to the farm. Uncle Owen isn't in the yard anymore, and the moisture tank that Luke broke the antenna off looks as good as new. The speeder is parked by the house, but nobody is outside. Luke thinks they're having supper, and he wonders if they care that he's been gone for so long. They walk up to the house, and Luke pushes the door open. The lights are out, and the entire place is silent. Owen's not home, and neither is Beru.

"It seems as though your aunt and uncle are out looking for you," Ben says.

"Aunt Beru was visiting one of the neighbours today," Luke says. "I don't know if she'd be back yet or not." he checks out the window for any sign of his uncle. "I don't know where Uncle Owen is..." He sits down at the kitchen table. Ben pulls up a chair, and sits down across from Luke.

"Well, I'll wait here with you until they come home," he says. "That's what friends do." Luke nods.

"Thank you, Ben," he says. "For everything." Ben smiles.

"You're very welcome." Luke hears footsteps coming to the house, and soon, the door opens. A very flustered Aunt Beru walks into the kitchen. She sees Luke, and instantly, a smile comes to her face. She gives him a hug, and kisses his forehead.

"Where were you?" She asks. "We were worried about you!" Uncle Owen walks in soon after, and he nods in acknowledgement to Ben. Ben stands up.

"Can I have a word with you?" He asks Owen. Owen nods, and the two men step into the living room. They start talking in hushed tones, and Luke can't hear what they're saying. He sees Uncle Owen bunch his hair up with his fingers, and Luke isn't sure what that means. He looks at Aunt Beru, and gives her another hug. Before he can tell her that he ran away, Ben and Owen come back into the kitchen.

"Well, Luke had quite the adventure," Ben says. "But I must be going home now." Aunt Beru turns around.

"And walk all the way to your house?" she asks. "I'll give you a ride back." Ben doesn't argue, and soon, the door closes behind them and Luke hears the speeder glide away. It's just him and Uncle Owen now. They look at each other for a moment, and Luke stands up and starts walking away.

"Luke..." Uncle Owen doesn't have much emotion in his voice. He sounds tired. Or stressed. Maybe both, Luke figures. Luke keeps walking to his room, and sits down on his bed. He throws his bag into the corner of his room. He'll unpack tomorrow morning. Uncle Owen walks in, and sits down beside his nephew. Luke looks at him for a second, and looks at the ground, worried that he'll be in trouble. To his surprise, he finds Uncle Owen's arms wrapped tightly around him.

"Luke," he says quietly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those nasty things to you. I didn't mean them." Luke feels a lump in his throat. He starts to cry all over again.

"Then why did you yell at me?"

"I was upset," Uncle Owen replies. "I was upset, and I didn't think about what I was saying. I know it's not nice to do that. And it wasn't such a big deal afterall. I fixed the tank!"

"I see that," Luke says, still not sure if he should hug Owen back or not. Uncle Owen has never hugged him before this. Not ever. Owen rubs his hand up and down Luke's back.

"I was worried about you," he says. "I didn't think you would run away! Ben told me what happened, and I feel so bad for hurting your feelings. Please don't run away from me again, okay?" Luke nods, unable to say a word.

"Luke, I love you." Luke places his arms around Owen.

"I love you too, Uncle Owen."


	9. Dust Fever

Luke lays in his bed, wondering if his headache will ever go away. Aunt Beru has been coming in and out of his room to check on him. He doesn't see why she's so worried about him. He's had Dust Fever before. He gets it every other year, just like some of the other kids he , I suppose growling at her and screaming out unintelligable words would cause her to be a little concerned. It wasn't his fault, though! He was sure he was face-to-face with a Tusken Raider. He had to scare it off any way he could! Aunt Beru simply told Luke that was just delirious, and that he was having a nightmare. That was a few hours ago. Luke stares up at his ceiling, and watches the strange patterns and colours that are floating around in front of his eyes. He blinks a couple times, but they don't go away. He wonders why this is. Even when he doesn't have Dust Fever, he can stare at nothing for a while, and then little floatie things will show up, whiz around in front of his face, and disappear. He tried asking Uncle Owen about it once, but he just said that it happens to everybody.

Luke tries to sit up and reach the cup of water Aunt Beru had placed beside his bed. His back aches, and he can feel himself trembling with every ounce of strength he uses. He holds the cup in both hands, and brings it slowly to his mouth. He takes a few sips, but the cold liquid causes him to grow dizzy. He flops back down on his pillow. That was a bad idea, he realizes. His head, his back, and now his neck hurt worse than ever. He kicks his blankets off, and they fall to the dirt floor in a heap. He hates feeling like this. One moment, he's too hot to even breathe, and the next, he feels colder than ice. He starts to shiver. _Great_, he thinks. _Now I have to pick up the blankets..._ He doesn't want to move a muscle. He's too tired, and he's grown weaker since morning.

"Aunt Beru..." he can't yell. His voice wavers, and for a moment, he wonders if he's going to start crying. Eventually, he hears the sound of her slippers travelling through the house, and to his bedroom. She comes in, and looks at the blankets on the floor.

"Too hot?" She asks. Luke shrugs.

"I dunno. I'm too hot, and then I'm too cold." Another shiver wracks his tired body. Aunt Beru smiles sympathetically, and puts the blankets on the foot of Luke's bed. She kneels down at his bedside, and places her hand on his forehead.

"You're still very warm," she notes.

"Well, this _is_ Tatooine," Luke replies. "Everything's hot here." Aunt Beru laughs.

"For being sick, you've still got a sense of humor," she says. "I think that's a good sign!" Luke smiles. He tries to sit up again, but his back and neck won't let him.

"Oww!" he grumbles. "Why does my back hurt? And my neck?" Aunt Beru smoothes her fingers over his hair. Luke slowly lays himself back down.

"Don't try to sit up if it hurts," she says. "Sometimes, when you're sick, your body gets really tired and weak, and your muscles are just kind of sleepy. That's probably why you're so sore."

"I thought Dust Fever wasn't supposed to be so bad," Luke says. "That's what Biggs told me. He used to get Dust Fever a lot when he was little."

"Well, Biggs was born here on Tatooine. He's been used to all the dust and sand since day one! He's probably immune to Dust Fever now. You're not immune to it just yet, dear." Luke wrinkles his eyebrows. He's a little confused by what she said.

"I wasn't born on Tatooine?" Aunt Beru's eyes widen a bit.

"Uh, no," she admits. "You know about your parents, and how they passed away when you were only a few days old." Luke nods. "Well, when you're born on Tatooine, it takes only a few days for your body to start protecting itself from all this sand. You were born someplace else, and your body didn't have that chance. It's just becoming immune to these things a little late, that's all."

"But I'm nine years old!" Luke exclaims. "I should be immune to Dust Fever by now!" Aunt Beru sighs.

"Luke, I'm not a doctor," she says. "But I do know that if your body misses out on those first few days of protecting itself from breathing in sand and things like that, it can take a long, long time to make up for it. Sometimes it takes years. That's all I know, alright?" Luke nods. He still doesn't understand, but he decides it's not a huge deal. He's a little more interested in something else, now.

"Aunt Beru, where was I born?" There is a long silence.

"I think we'll just talk about this when you're better, okay?"

"Fine. But now I wanna know something else. What was I like as a baby?" Beru's face softens, and her eyes start to sparkle.

"Well, Luke, you were very, very tiny when your uncle and I first saw you. You were just a little bit shorter than Uncle Owen's forearm! I remember everything about the first day I got to hold you. You were all wrapped up in a big blanket, and you were sound asleep. Then, you opened your eyes, looked up at me, and smiled." A grin has spread across her face. "You were such an adorable baby. You're still pretty cute!" Luke snorts. "Oh, I'm sorry," Aunt Beru says with a giggle. "Are you no longer cute at nine-and-a-half years old?"

"Well, Aunt Beru," Luke says. "I'm almost a man now. And men aren't cute! We're tough, and we have beards!"

"Beards?"

"Yes. Ben told me that, once. Men have beards, and when they're thinking really hard, they sometimes pet them." Luke reaches for his chin. "I dunno why, but mine hasn't grown at all. Do you think it's something in our water?" His aunt bursts out in an amused laugh.

"Luke," she's smiling so hard that her face looks like it's going to split right down the middle. "In a few years' time, you'll start growing a beard. I wouldn't worry about it now!"

"Yeah, but I think it would be great to have a beard! Maybe even a mustache, too!" He puts his fingers over his top lip, and wiggles them. "What do you think?"

"I think it would be an interesting look for you!" Luke and Aunt Beru start laughing all over again, and after a few minutes of quiet, Luke remembers something.

"You know how you and Uncle Owen adopted me when I was a baby? Well, who was the other baby?"

"Other baby?"

"Yeah! This might sound crazy, but I remember seeing a baby that wasn't me. That was once ever. All I remember is a face, though. Aunt Beru, how come we didn't adopt the other baby? Did I have a twin or something?" Aunt Beru places her chin in her hand. She closes her eyes for a moment. Luke wonders what that means.

"Luke," she says. "There was no other baby."


	10. Back To School

Another year of school has come once again. Luke stands by the door, waiting for Uncle Owen to get his boots on. Luke's bookbag is slung over his shoulder. He's sure it feels heavier than it did last year. Uncle Owen just said that it was because Luke isn't used to carrying a whole bunch of new books at once, and eventually, he'll have less things to take to school. Luke doesn't mind school. He likes to get away from the farm every day, but he knows that once he's through five more years of class, he's going to have to stick around the farm for a long time. He thinks back to the very first time he ever went to school. He was five years old, and was full of questions. Uncle Owen told Luke that he's supposed to go to school for ten years, and when he's sixteen, he is finished, and then must stay on the farm for a few more years.

"Have a good day at school!" Aunt Beru calls from the living room, as Luke and Uncle Owen head outside.

"I will!" Luke shouts back. Luke always makes sure he tells his aunt that he'll have a good day in school, and when she asks how it went later, he always tries to come up with at least a few interesting things he had learned. Aunt Beru never went to school, and Luke knows that for her, he has to learn many things and become very smart. When he was little, he asked her why she was making him go to school, and she had told him that her family didn't have enough money to send her to school, and she had to learn how to read, write, and count at home from her parents. Since then, Luke decided that he wouldn't complain about going, and sometimes, he can tell she appreciates that.

Luke hangs his jacket and his book bag on a hook on the wall. His name is written on a card above the hook in neat printing. It's written in purple ink, and he knows just what that means. It means he has the same teacher as he did last year. Luke supposes that he should have been expecting that. In the five years that he's been in school, she's been the only teacher in the one room schoolhouse. He reaches into his bookbag, and pulls out his brand new writing tablet and books. So far, he's the only one here, other than his teacher. He decides to wait by the door for Biggs and Fixer. Grizz stopped going to school last year, but nobody knows why, except for Luke. Grizz told Luke that he was going to start homeschooling, because his parents didn't have enough money for him to stay at school in town. Luke swore that he wouldn't tell anyone, and even now, he can't think of a single person he mentioned it to. Well, he _did_ tell Aunt Beru. She sympathised with him, and all she said was that she hoped that Grizz finds a good job when he's older.

The door opens, and a couple of girls come skipping into the building. Luke knows them. They're Nona and Lyla Dunehill, and they're twin sisters. Luke used to play tag with them outside once in a while, and sometimes, if Lyla brought her toy ship, she and Luke and his friends would pretend to be pilots. Nona twirls her curly black hair around her finger, but Lyla does not do the same. Luke knows that Lyla isn't one for fancy clothes and hair, and that she's a lot more comfortable around a group of boys than around a group of girls. Luke thinks back to the little girl he met at the market at the very beginning of his holidays off from school, Leia. _Leia and Lyla would not mix well._

Behind Nona and Lyla, another girl comes in. Luke takes one look at her, and instantly feels like pulling a face. That girl is Toré Saisie, the daughter of a nobleman on the planet Naboo. Luke knows where Naboo is. He remembers learning about it in school last year. It's not far from Tatooine. Luke doesn't like Toré, and she doesn't like him, either. She didn't make a very good first impression on Luke when the first thing she called him was a "commoner". That was some time in the middle of last year, when her parents moved to Tatooine for some kind of fancy government thing. He hope she moves back to Naboo, and soon.

Finally, Biggs and Fixer come in. They've walked to school together, Luke assumes. They both live in town, and not far from this little building.

"Hey, guys!" Luke says excitedly. Fixer grins.

"Luke! I haven't seen ya in a while!" Biggs nods in acknowledgement.

"How's it goin'?" The dark haired boy bops Luke in the shoulder. Luke pops him one back.

"Let's sit down before our spot gets stolen!" Fixer suggests. Their "spot" is right by the window, where Luke once watched a group of Jawas chasing a wild R5 droid. On warmer days, a cool breeze outside sometimes sends a draft through a crack in the window. On cooler days, the suns shine in through that way in the morning, and leave a warm beam of light on the floor. And, if they're sitting by the window, they don't have to stare across the room to watch outside when they're bored of paying attention. Luke was the one who discovered how awesome this spot is, but Fixer is convinced that it was _his_ idea, and _his_ idea alone. The boys sit themselves down on the floor, and the rest of the students that have come in join them.

"Class," the teacher says. "Before we get started, I have some exciting news!" There are a few whipers and titters from around the room. Luke and his friends look at each other, but they don't know what's going on. "We're going to have a new student in the year five class! Her name is Matay Twinsuns, and she's from Anchorhead. She'll be here soon, so I think you guys need to be very friendly and welcoming to her." A new student? And she's a girl? Luke finds this interesting. He wonders what she's going to look like.

The door opens, and a man who looks Uncle Owen's age comes in. His long beard is curly and brown, and that reminds Luke that he should check in the mirror when he gets home to see if his beard is making any progress. Behind the man, a young girl trails behind, holding a writing tablet close to her chest. Teacher stands up from her stool and walks over to them.

"Hello, Mr. Twinsuns," she says. She looks down at Matay. "Hello, Matay! Come join us!" Matay nods quickly. She scans the room for some place to sit. "There's room beside Luke over there," Teacher suggests. She points at Luke. Luke's heart starts to beat quickly. Matay is a pretty girl. Her sandy hair falls past her shoulders, and her blue eyes are as bright as the sky outside. She looks at Luke, and bats her long, dark eyelashes. She sits down on the floor between him and Biggs. Biggs scoots over to give her a little space to sit down. A few minutes after her father leaves and the class resumes, she pokes Luke in the shoulder.

"You're Luke?" She whispers. Her fine, curly hair hangs in ringlets around her heart-shaped face. Luke nods, not sure what to say.

"Y-yeah. I'm Luke. And that's Biggs." He points at Biggs. "And that's Fixer." Fixer turns around and waggles his eyebrows at Matay. She giggles.

"Our hair is the same colour," Luke remarks. _What on Tatooine did I just say?_ His face starts to feel warm. Matay nods slowly.

"Yeah, kind of. Our eyes are the same colour, too." Luke watches her full, pouty lips as she talks. He nods, and tries to give her a friendly grin.

"Matay, do you wanna play with Biggs and Fixer and I when we go outside for our break?"

"That depends," she replies. "What are you playing?"

"Well, I brought my toy shuttle and another toy ship. I think the other guys brought theirs, too. You can borrow one of my ships if you want." Matay's face lights up.

"That sounds fun!" She says. "I love ships and stuff like that! My dad's a pilot!" Already, Luke is pretty sure he's going to really like this girl.


	11. I Have a Squash!

Aunt Beru was thrilled to hear about the new girl in school. Every day since the first day she came, Matay has sat beside Luke and his friends, and Luke would find that he'd pay more attention to Matay than to the teacher. Even when they were learning about ships and flying in space.

Luke steps into the house and closes the door behind him. He's been smiling all day, and he doesn't think he'll stop any time soon. Aunt Beru sits at the table, reading. "My, Luke," she says. "You're happy today!" Luke nods.

"Yeah, I sure am!" He plops down across from her, and drops his bookbag onto the floor. "Aunt Beru, I think I have a squash."

"A what?"

"A Squash. You know that new girl in my class, Matay? Well, she's really nice, and she likes ships, and she wants to be a pilot, just like me!" He looks at the floor. "And she's cute, too. I think I have a squash on her." Aunt Beru smiles.

"Oh! You mean a crush!" She rests her chin in her hand. "You have a _crush_ on her! Not a squash, sweetie!"

"Oh!" He sighs. "At least, I think I have a crush on her. What is it like to have a crush on someone? You had to have had a crush on Uncle Owen! What was that like?"

"Well," Beru says, running her fingers through her hair. "I used to get this weird fluttery feeling in my stomach. And sometimes, my heart would start beating really fast. Sometimes, Luke, when you have a crush on someone, you really like them, and you think that everything they do is cute, even if they're just little things."

"Hmm. When we were playing outside today, Matay and I were pretending to be Jedi, and she kicked Fixer right in the butt!" Luke starts to giggle. "I thought that was kind of cute!" Aunt Beru drops her forehead into her hand. Her shoulders start to shake. She looks up at Luke and puts a hand on his.

"Things that only boys think are great," she says to nobody in particular. She shakes her head, still smiling. "Luke, if you're going to have a crush on Matay, that's great. But remember that you two are too young to be boyfriend and girlfriend." Luke wrinkles his nose and sticks out his tongue.

"Yuck! I don't want a _girlfriend_! I just like her a lot!"

Luke rubs his eyes tiredly. He had stayed up a little bit too late last night. He was busy drawing a picture of an Imperial Shuttle for Matay. He had to start over a bunch of times, because whenever he thought he was done, he would see some kind of mistake in his drawing, and he would start again from scratch. He had to make it perfect if he was going to give it to a _girl_. Especially this girl! He starts tuning out his teacher's voice, and soon, he starts drifting off to sleep.

"Luke! Luke!" Matay pokes him hard in the ribs. Luke jolts awake. "We're supposed to get into partners. Do you wanna be mine?" Luke nods quickly. He glances over at his friends. Biggs and Fixer are already paired up. He looks back at Matay, who is smiling at him. "You were sleeping!" She teases.

"Was I?"

"Yeah!" She looks down at her little white sandals, then back at Luke. "I had to wake you up anyway. I didn't want you to get in trouble."

"Thanks!"

"No problem! You're kinda cute when you're sleeping." Her face turns red. Luke feels a surge of excitement run through his veins. She called him cute!

"So, what are we doing?" Luke asks, trying to keep his cool. Matay explains that she and Luke are going to be paired together to act out what each of them wants to do when they grow up. They have to make a few simple props and then practice two short skits. Matay leads Luke to one of the craft tables set up in the corner of the room.

"Let's start with props and stuff!" Matay suggests. She and Luke sit down at the table and Luke begins to trace and cut out a huge paper mustache. Matay raises an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"It's a mustache!" Luke says, holding it up under his nose. Matay starts to laugh.

"That's huge!"

"I know! I hope to have a big mustache when I grow up!" He looks at what Matay is cutting out from thick poster board. "What's that?"

"It's going to be a lightsaber," she says. "I'm gonna paint it blue!" Luke's eyes widen.

"You want to be a Jedi?" Matay nods. "That's great!"

A few days after they started on the project, Luke and Matay sit close together on the floor, watching Biggs and Fixer's skits. Biggs wanted to be a pilot, just like Luke. In his skit, he and Fixer chased each other around, trying to imitate the sound of a ship taking off, flying, and landing. In Fixer's skit, nobody can keep a straight face. Fixer wants to be a farmer and mechanic. He is busy running after Biggs with a big stick. Biggs stops, pumps his fists up and down, and gives a loud roar. "Back off, Tusken Raider!" Fixer shouts. "And don't touch my farm again!" The two bow, and everybody claps. Even the teacher is laughing. Now, it's Nona and Lyla's turn. Luke watches them for a few seconds, and then he feels something on his hand. He looks down to find that Matay's hand is resting on top of his. His face feels hot, and his heart starts to beat quickly.

When he's sure nobody's looking, he moves his hand free from hers. Matay looks at him, disappointed. Luke slowly inches his hand forward, and then in one swift motion, he takes her hand and intertwines their fingers, just like Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen do when they hold hands. He and Matay both smile. Luke has never held hands with anybody before, other than with Aunt Beru when they were at the market. Matay's skin is so soft, and her palm is warm under his. He hopes that they won't get caught, though...

"Okay," Teacher says once Nona and Lyla are finished. "Now, it's time for Luke and Matay!" They let go of each other's hand, and stand up. Luke heads to the back of the room for his big paper mustache and Matay's lightsaber. He joins her at the front of the class. They're going to do Matay's skit first. Matay takes her lightsaber and waves it around.

"Neeyow! Whoosh!" Luke is impressed by her lightsaber noises. Matay jumps up on a box near the corner, and jumps off, landing in front of Luke. "I'll save you!" She cries, taking Luke by the hand and running off to the other side of the room. They come back to their original spot. "I want to be a Jedi," Matay tells the class. "And I want to have a big, blue lightsaber. I'm going to save every single planet there is!" She takes a bow, and everybody claps. Now, it's Luke's turn. He tapes his big paper mustache under his nose. Some of the older kids laugh.

"The first thing I want to do when I grow up is grow a great big mustache," Luke starts. "Then, I'm going to become a pi-" He is cut off by the bell. _Is it time to go home already?_

"I'm sorry, Luke!" Teacher says. "It'll be your turn first thing tomorrow morning, alright?" Luke doesn't mind. He nods happily. He got to hold hands with a girl! Nothing can ruin his day now! He sighs happily, as he watches Matay head for the door. He has a squash on her, that's for sure.


	12. Ladies' Man

Luke and Aunt Beru have been picking mushrooms all morning. After a while, the harmless mushrooms start to grow on the outsides of the moisture tanks. And with a new tank installed, that means more mushrooms have to be picked. Luke doesn't mind picking mushrooms, though. It's a lot easier than what he usually has to do around the farm. After his little incident with the newest moisture tank, Luke isn't allowed to touch them. Secretly, he's happy that Uncle Owen won't let him. At least he doesn't have to do any of the really hard work. Luke's only chores are picking mushrooms off the tanks, helping his aunt clean the house, and of course, his homework. Luke can't wait until his chores for the day are over. That means that he'll have less time to wait for Matay to come over when he's no longer distracted by chores.

"I think that's it for the mushrooms," Aunt Beru says, giving the tanks one last good look up and down. "We'll let those tiny ones grow a bit more before we pick 'em." She takes her basket, and heads for the house. Luke follows behind with his metal pail. Washing and cutting the mushrooms is his favourite part. He and Aunt Beru usually have a lot of fun doing this. Luke brings a chair up to the sink counter, and dumps in his mushrooms. He hums a happy little tune that he doesn't know the name of, and he scrubs each mushroom quickly. He plops them into a bowl, which Aunt Beru takes from the counter. At the table, she dices them up with her knife, and waits for Luke to finish washing more.

"So, are you excited for her to come over?"

"Kind of," Luke replies.

"I can tell. You've been cheerful all morning. She'll be here soon, you know."

"Yes, Aunt Beru. I know." Luke tries to sound cool, but inside, he's more excited than he was when he woke up on his birthday. He knows that he won't get away with running around the living room in his underwear again, though. Especially if someone is coming over. He dumps the last of the washed mushrooms into the bowl, and Aunt Beru takes them and starts to chop them up.

"I think that's all you need to do for today," she says, looking around the house. "Say, you did a pretty good job helping me clean this place!" She smiles. Luke glances around the room, and he hopes that he doesn't have to get up early in the morning to clean the house for a long, long time. He wanders off to his room. He stands in front of his mirror and starts to fuss with his hair. He puts his little comb down when he remembers that boys don't play with their hair. But there's this one little piece on the back of his head that keeps sticking up... With a groan, he licks a couple fingers and tries to slick down the annoying piece of hair. He wants to make a good impression on her when she comes over, he decides. He looks around his room. He picks up a few toys here, a few dirty shirts there, and he tosses everything into the toybox. He sits on the lid to make it close, and when it finally does, he smoothes the blankets across his bed. He's pretty sure Matay won't be in his bedroom, but he should probably keep it relatively clean, just in case.

A few minutes later, Aunt Beru knocks on the door. "Luke," she calls. "Matay is here!" Luke bolts for the door, and swings it open. Aunt Beru jumps back.

"Oops, sorry," Luke says quietly. Aunt Beru raises an eyebrow.

"Someone's a little excited," she teases quietly.

Matay is standing by the kitchen table, looking around the room. She smiles when she sees Luke. Luke's heart begins to beat quickly. _She looks cuter than usual today,_ he notices. _Wait- are her lips sparkly?_

"Hello, Matay!"

"Hey, Luke! Thanks for inviting me over." She bats her long eyelashes at him.

"D-Do you wanna go outside?" Luke asks, taking a quick look at her lips again, to see for sure if they really are sparkly. "There's a sand pit out behind the house. I can get my ships and Stormtroopers and-"

"Sure! I'll meet you out there!"

"Stuff," Luke finishes quietly, as Matay slips her boots back on. "Um, Matay?"

"What?"

"Do you know your lips are kind of sparkly?" Matay laughs.

"Of course! My big sister told me to use some of this lip stuff that she's got, and it's supposed to make them a little bit shiny." She purses her lips a little, and Luke wonders if that means he should try to kiss her or not. He turns around and runs to his room.

"I'm gonna go get the ships!"

Out in the sand pit, Luke and Matay are busy building little sand houses. Luke thought they should build a little farm, but Matay insisted that they try to make it look like Anchorhead. She points at a little lump of sand with a twig sticking out of the top.

"That's going to be my house," she says. "Which house is yours?" Luke thinks for a moment, and he points to the one that most resembles some sort of building.

"That one." Matay puts a hand on her chin.

"Or you could come live with me," she suggests. Luke knows his face is turning red. He nods.

"Sure, I'll live with you." He picks up his action figures from behind him, and plops them onto the sand. "Which person do you want to be?" Matay picks up the Jedi. She smiles.

"I wanna be the Jedi." Luke sighs inwardly. He wanted to be the Jedi, but he figures that it's best if he didn't argue with the girl. He could use the Rodian bounty hunter toy. "I wanna be the Jedi because this one's a girl. And I actually do wanna be a Jedi. Either that, or a pilot, like my dad." Luke smiles. If there's one thing he likes about this girl, it's that she knows what she wants to do, but mostly, because she likes a lot of the same things as him. He looks at her lips to see if they're still shiny. So far, no sand has been blown onto them or anything. Matay says something, but Luke didn't hear her.

"What was that?" He asks.

"I just asked you why you keep staring at my lips!"

"'Cause," Luke replies. "They're shiny. I've never seen someone put shiny stuff on their lips before." Matay says that a lot of girls in Anchorhead have shiny lips. Especially girls that are her sister's age.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Luke says.

"She's sixteen. She'll be seventeen in a week. She's going back to Anchorhead in a few days, though. She doesn't like it here, so she's leaving to go live with our auntie." She pauses. "Well, do you like my lips shiny?"

"Yeah, I like your lips," Luke says without thinking.

"Wait. You do?" Luke nods. "I have a question for you. Have you ever kissed a girl?" Luke shakes his head quickly.

"Nope. Well, I kiss Aunt Beru good night and stuff like that."

"That doesn't count. I mean, have you ever kissed a girl that you like?" Luke looks down at the sand.

"No," he says quietly. "Why do you ask?"

"Um, because," Matay's tone of voice is starting to sound different. "I've never kissed a boy before." Luke's eyes widen. She's so pretty! How couldn't she have kissed someone?

"I bet boys try to kiss you," he blurts out. "You know, 'cause you're pretty and all." His face starts to burn, as if he had been out in front of the suns for hours.

"You think that I'm pretty?"

"I think a lot of girls are pretty. But you're extra pretty." Matay scoots herself forward, and plops down again, right beside Luke. She slowly reaches out her hand, and holds onto his. He lets go, and then grabs her hand, and settles his fingers in the spaces between hers.

"Luke," she says quietly. "I like you. A lot. And I'm just wondering: will you let me kiss you?" Luke's face burns hotter than ever. He ducks his head away so that Matay won't see just how hard he's blushing. When his face cools down a little, he looks at her.

"Not unless I kiss you first." She grins. "I have a question. Should we stand up to do this?" Matay shakes her head.

"I don't see why we have to." Luke gives her lips one good, long look. He wonders if her lips will make his sparkly. Maybe she doesn't want to be kissed on the lips. He's seen Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen kiss like that sometimes, and he thinks that maybe that kind of kiss is for older people. But he's not too sure. He leans in close to Matay, and slowly presses his lips against her cheek. He sits back down, and looks at her expectantly.

"Did you like that?" he asks. She smiles. She liked it. And now, it's Luke's turn for a kiss. Matay wraps her arms around him, and gives him a long, soft kiss on his forehead. She pulls away, and hides her face. Luke caught a glimpse of it before she buried it into her shoulder. Her face had turned bright pink. Luke squeezes her hand.

"It's alright," he says. "I liked that." Matay turns her face back to Luke. She's smiling.

"Promise not to tell anybody we did that?"

"I promise."

The suns are setting once again. A few minutes after Matay's father came to take her home, Luke heads back out to the sand pit to gather up his toys. He has trouble closing the door behind him, but manages to shut it with his foot. He dumps the toys into his toybox, and heads out to the kitchen for a little snack. Uncle Owen is sitting at the table, doodling idly on a writing tablet. He looks up at Luke. A sneaky grin spreads onto his face.

"Luke, what's on your face?" he asks. Luke brushes his hand against his cheek.

"Nothing," he replies. "I don't have anything on my face." Uncle Owen shakes his head.

"I mean on your forehead. You've got a big sparkly smudge above your eyebrow!" Luke realizes what his uncle is talking about. Instinctively, he wipes at his forehead. The ends of his fingers are sparkly. He wipes them on his pants. Uncle Owen chuckles. "You're gonna have to look out when you get older, and the ladies start coming around," he says.

"Sure, Uncle Owen." Luke turns around, a little embarrassed. He heads for his room to look at the smudge on his forehead in the mirror. He passes Aunt Beru in the living room. He stops at his doorway. He hears her talking to Uncle Owen.

"What's this about Luke having a sparkly stain on his forehead?" She asks. Uncle Owen laughs.

"I think we're raising quite the ladies' man."


	13. Please Don't Go!

Matay didn't show up for school this morning. Luke watches out the classroom window, hoping he might see her and her father come by on their speeder. Maybe she's just late, he hopes. But an uncomfortable feeling in his gut causes Luke to start thinking otherwise. Printing and numbers class were boring without Matay sitting beside him, writing him little messages on her writing tablet. When the end of the school day had come, she still hadn't shown up. The next few days were like this, too. After about a week, Luke had had enough. He had to ask what was going on. Once the end-of-the-day bell rings, Luke waits for everyone to leave the room, and then walks up to his teacher.

"Mrs. Sandstra?" His teacher turns around.

"Yes, Luke?"

"How come Matay hasn't been at school?" Mrs. Sandstra sets her writing tablet on her table, and kneels down so that she's eye-to-eye with Luke.

"Well, Luke," she says. "I'm not really allowed to tell anybody what's going on, but I know that you two are good friends. Before I tell you, do you _promise_ me that you won't tell any of the other students?" Luke nods. He just wants to know why his new best friend isn't here anymore. Mrs. Sandstra places a hand on his shoulder. "You see, her family is going through something very difficult. Matay was telling me what was happening, and then her father came up to me and said that she wouldn't be in school for a little while." Luke's heart sinks. "Matay might be moving back to Anchorhead," Mrs. Sandstra says quietly. Luke hangs his head sadly. His chest begins to hurt a little, and he swallows a lump in his thoat. He waits a few moments before he says anything. He doesn't want to cry in front of his teacher. She rubs his shoulder gently. "I know, it's hard to think about," she says. "But her father said that she _might___be moving back. He didn't say for sure." Luke lifts his head, and nods.

"Okay," he says. "Thank you." Mrs. Sandstra stands up.

"You're welcome." she turns around to pick up some papers on her table, and looks over her shoulder at Luke, who is now at the front door. "It'll be okay," she assures him.

Luke sits outside to wait for Aunt Beru to show up. When she finally gets to the school, he stands up and gets into the speeder without a word. Before they leave, Aunt Beru places her hand on her nephew's head.

"What's the matter?" she asks. Luke shakes his head.

"Nothing," he mumbles.

"That's what you've been saying for the past week. What's going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Luke says. Aunt Beru gives him a sympathetic look, and then starts up the speeder. Luke doesn't feel like pretending that he's flying in a ship, like he usually does. Matay told him that she likes to do that. And he misses her a little bit too much right now. He stares blankly at the neverending ocean of sand in front of them, and tries to count the Womp Rats that they pass by, but today, there aren't any Womp Rats out and about. Luke sighs. A giant sandcrawler comes into view, and he watches as a couple of jawas sell a little R2 droid to a farmer. He's pretty sure he sees a wisp of smoke coming up from the white and yellow droid. He shakes his head, and stares out in front of him again._ That farmer is in for a surprise_...

He walks into the house, but heads straight for his room. He doesn't even stop to grab a mint from the bowl on the table. He sees a folded up piece of paper on his dresser, and unfolds it to find that it's the picture of the shuttle that he forgot to give to Matay. Inside, he kicks himself hard. He should have remembered to give it to her the day after he drew it! He opens his toybox, but he doesn't feel like playing. In the very bottom of the box, he sees his Jedi action figure. Her paint is starting to chip off, but Luke knows it's because of how much he plays with her. She's one of his favourite toys. He realizes that he's never given her a name. He takes her out of the toybox, and sits down on his bed, examining her carefully to help him think of a name that would suit her. _Lyla? Toré? _He shakes his head and wrinkles his nose. He's definitely not naming his toy Toré. He plucks the blue lightsaber out of the toy's hand, and holds it up against his index finger to find that they're almost the same length. He likes the shade of blue the lightsaber is painted. It reminds him of the lightsaber Matay made in school. Of course! Why didn't he think of it? He snaps the lightsaber back into the Jedi's hand. He will give her the prettiest name he can think of: Matay.

Luke stares out the classroom window, wondering if today will be another Matay-less day. He realizes that he's been staring out the window a lot lately, and he thinks he better stop doing it so much, or Mrs. Sandstra might move him elsewhere. Biggs and Fixer haven't really noticed that Luke had been feeling lonely without Matay, and now, he can hear them whispering about her.

"She's alright," Biggs says. "She's nice to us."

"Are you kidding? She's not nice to me! She kicked me in the butt once!"

"Yeah, but you had that coming!"

"I did _not_! And besides, she's kind of weird. I mean, she doesn't even hang out with the other girls." Fixer looks back quickly at Luke. Luke doesn't meet his gaze, pretending that he didn't see Fixer. Fixer motions for Biggs to come closer, and his whisper grows even softer. Luke strains to hear what he's saying.

"I think she's trying to steal Luke away from us," he says. "She's always sitting with Luke and talking to him and stuff. Do you think they're boyfriend and girlfriend?" Biggs shrugs.

"Probably," he replies. "I don't think it's a big deal, though. Lots of people are boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Yeah," Fixer says. "I get that. But with Matay? She's not even that pretty! Her hair looks like a bush!" Luke is starting to feel angry. He knows he never should have eavesdropped. But he couldn't help it once he heard Matay's name. "And she's weird! Like, she doesn't hang out with the other girls; just Luke and us. And she thinks she's all tough and wants to be a Jedi and a pilot and whatever." Biggs nods.

"Maybe she's a little bit weird." Luke stares back out the window again. He wishes he never heard those things about Matay. She's not weird. She's different, and Luke knows he likes that about her. And her hair doesn't look like a bush. He shakes his head at the thought. Her hair is curly, but it's not _that_ curly. But what does Fixer know? His hair is as straight as the antenna on a moisture tank. He looks at Fixer, and for a moment, he does not like that boy at all. Well, he never liked Fixer more than he liked Biggs, that's for sure. He's not angry with Biggs. He gets a feeling somewhere inside that Biggs only agreed with Fixer because he thought he had to. Then, Luke hears the door open. Matay slips quietly inside. Luke's heart skips a beat, and a wide smile starts to spread on his face. Matay tries to smile back, but Luke notices that she's sad. Very sad. She sits down next to him.

"Hey!" Luke whispers. He wants to hug her so badly. Instead, he takes her hand and squeezes it tightly. She doesn't squeeze his hand back, like she usually would. Luke looks up at her face and sees her staring blankly at the ground. He tries to resist the urge to sweep a long piece of soft, sandy hair out of her face. He looks at her subtle curls. Fixer must be blind, Luke thinks. Matay's hair looks nothing like a bush. He gives in, and reaches up for the piece of hair. He holds it between his thumb and forefinger and smoothes it out, and then places it behind her ear. Matay looks up. "What's the matter?" She finally squeezes his hand back.

"I'll tell you after school."

After school had ended, Luke and Matay snuck out behind the school, and sat down on the soft sand. Aunt Beru was talking to Mrs. Sandstra, and Matay said her father would be a bit late picking her up. This gives Luke more time to be with her. They're still sitting there, and they're still holding hands. Matay, though, is crying. She has been for the past little while, and Luke isn't quite sure what to do. Holding onto her hand doesn't seem like it's enough right now. He scoots closer to her, and lets go of her hand. Very slowly, he moves his arm behind her, and gently places it around her waist. Matay leans her head on his shoulder. Luke is taken aback by her sudden gesture, but he figures that if it helps calm her down, then she should stay like that. He doesn't mind her head on his shoulder, anyway. He's not sure what to do, though. Does he lean his head against hers? Does he pat her on her head? He decides to lean his head against hers, and when he does, Matay snuggles up to him. Tears run down from her face and soak into Luke's jacket.

"I'm moving back to Anchorhead!" She finally blurts out. She buries her face into Luke's shoulder, and sobs.

"How come?" Luke lifts his head and looks down at her. Matay doesn't say anything for a few seconds.

"Because," she says. "My parents don't want to be married anymore." She takes a deep breath. "They said it wasn't my fault. They used to love each other, but they don't now. I don't know why!" She starts to cry harder. Luke's heart breaks. It hurts to see his favourite girl so sad. It hurts worse to know that her parents don't love each other, and that she's probably moving away. He tries to fight the lump that forms in his throat. His eyes begin to burn. Soon, he's crying, too.

"Please don't go, Matay!" He whispers.

"I don't want to go. I want my parents to stay married. But they won't." She wraps her arms around Luke in a tight hug. "I don't wanna leave!" She sniffles. "Mom and Dad want me to live with my sister and my aunt and uncle for a while until they're officially separated or something like that."

"Why?"

"Mom's going to move to Mos Espa to get away from Dad, and Dad wants to stay here. But he says he can't look after me because of this new job he just got."

"What job?"

"I dunno. He hauls water to different cities, and he's away from home a lot and has to stay overnight at some places." She sighs, and Luke sees more tears staining his jacket. "I'm not even going to have parents anymore if I have to keep living with my aunt and uncle!"

"Sure you will!" Luke says, wiping his eyes with his free arm. He hopes he's done crying, because he wants to be strong for Matay. "Everybody has a mom and a dad. They still love you!" Matay shakes her head.

"Then why are they making me live with my aunt and uncle? Mom didn't even ask me if she wanted me to live with her!"

"Maybe because your sister lives with them, and someone has to keep your sister from being lonely, right?"

"Maybe. But what are my friends in Anchorhead going to say when they find out my aunt and my uncle are being kind of like my parents?"

"Hey, I live with my aunt and uncle." Matay wipes her nose on her sleeve and looks up at Luke.

"How come?" She has tear stains on her cheeks. Luke thinks she's just about done crying, too.

"I don't have parents," he explains. "I used to have a mom and a dad, but they both died when I was a baby. So Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen are kind of my parents." Matay snuggles back into Luke.

"I'm sorry," she says quietly. Luke hears the sound of a speeder in the distance, and he and Matay stand up. She wipes her tears one last time, and runs out from behind the school to greet her father. Luke has to wait for Aunt Beru to finish talking to Mrs. Sandstra before they go home.

"So, I talked to your teacher," Aunt Beru says. "I thought maybe you were being picked on and that was why you were so sad when you came home from school. But she said that Matay was moving."

"I know, Aunt Beru." Luke feels his tears welling up again. "I just don't know when."


	14. Lucid Dreams

Luke hasn't walked this far since the time he ran away from Uncle Owen. The suns are sitting high up in the blue sky, and Luke is starting to sweat. He sits down on the sand, takes off his shirt, and stuffs it into his book bag. He wonders when Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen will realize that he's no longer in school today. He sighs sadly. He didn't want to go to school this morning, and when Uncle Owen dropped him off, Luke made a run for it as soon as his speeder was out of sight. He wasn't exactly sure how to get to Ben Kenobi's house from the school, but sneaky feelings he felt in his chest that told him things like, _go this way, _ or,_ Turn that way at the big rock up ahead_ had led him out far enough that he knew where to go from memory. He stares out at the old abandoned sandcrawler off in the distance, and remembers that it was at this spot that Ben had found him and brought him back to his house the time Luke ran away from home. For a moment, he's glad Ben dissuaded him from living in that old sandcrawler, because if he _did_ become some hermit, he never would have met Matay. _Matay..._ He stares down at his feet. _I miss her._ He takes one more look at the sandcrawler. Maybe he would try to go live there again some day. Matay left for Anchorhead two weeks ago, and Luke wonders if he won't ever see her again.

He stares off in a random direction, and wonders which way Ben's house is. He remembers Ben coming up from behind, but Luke doesn't remember which way he was facing. Then, he sees the shape of a little house somewhere in the distance, but not quite as far away as the sandcrawler. _There it is! Ben's house!_ Luke stands up, snaps his bag shut, and takes off for the house. As he approaches, he hopes that Ben is home. Luke needs to talk to him about a few things. First, he wants to tell Ben about Matay, and that he misses her a lot. But that's not the only thing. Luke had had a strange dream a few nights ago. In his dream, he was standing in a strange forest. The forest was lush and green, and Luke knew right away that he was not on Tatooine. He was holding something in his hand, and he realized that it was the shiny hilt of a brand new lightsaber. He had a feeling that this wasn't his first saber, that there was another one before it. He pressed a small button, and with a _whoosh_, a bright green blade shot up into the sky, humming energetically. Luke shakes his head slowly, confused. He's never had a dream like that before, and he thinks that only Ben knows what it could mean.

Nervously, he knocks on the door. He sees Ben's speeder laying on the ground near the house, damaged. Luke figures that's why Ben walked him home the time he ran away instead of flying him back on that old landspeeder. Luke hopes Ben doesn't ask why he's not in school, but he's pretty sure he's going to have to explain himself. Luke knocks on the door again, hoping that Ben will answer. It would have been pointless to run away from school to Ben's house, only to find that nobody's home. He knocks again. Eventually, Luke hears footsteps shuffling toward the door.

"Luke?" Ben looks surprised. "Come in! Do come in!" Luke takes a hesitant step inside. Then, Ben states the obvious. "You're not in school." He strokes his beard, which Luke notices has grown longer. Luke has given up on his beard, but hopes it starts growing soon. "Why aren't you in school, my boy?" He sits down in his living room, and motions for Luke to sit down beside him.

"Well," Luke replies. "I ran away." Ben's eyes widen.

"You ran away? Again? Whatever happened?" Luke takes a deep breath.

"I don't know where to begin." All at once, he tells Ben about Matay coming into his class, and how they had become best friends. Of course, he left out that they would hold hands, and he left out the story of how he got a sparkly smudge on his face. He has a feeling that Ben already somehow knows this, though. He tells Ben about Matay's parents splitting up, and that she had to move away to Anchorhead. "I miss her lots," he finishes with. "But that's not exactly everything."

"No?" Ben tilts his head slightly. "Well, let's talk about your friend here. Matay. You two became inseparable, didn't you?"

"Yes, Ben." Luke's face grows a little warm. "We really liked each other." Ben smiles warmly.

"And you miss her very much," he notes. Luke nods.

"She was one of my best friends. You don't find that weird, do you?" Ben places a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"Of course not," he says. "When I was younger, one of my closest friends was a lady. Her name was Pad-" he stops himself. "Well, her name is beside the point. But she and I had become very close friends, and when she passed away, I missed her terribly. Sometimes, I still miss her."

"Passed away," Luke repeats. "That means 'died', doesn't it?" Ben nods.

"Now, I know your friend is very much alive, but the point is, I know how you feel. We both have a friend that we really miss. But, do you know how I dealt with missing Pa- um- my friend?"

"How?" Luke asks.

"Well," Ben says. "First I had to try to accept that she was gone. It was very hard to do that, though. I was upset at first, and sometimes, I would feel very angry."

"But I'm not angry, Ben. I just miss her. Really, I've been... bored... without her."

"Hmm, well being bored without a friend is a lot better than being upset, I must say. But anyway, once I accepted that she was gone, I began to remember all of the nice things about her, and I would sometimes think back to all of the fun times we used to have. Then, I wouldn't miss her so much. But that was years ago."

"How many years ago, Ben?" Ben waits a few moments before he says anything.

"I'd say about ten." He clears his throat quietly. "Now, there's something else you'd like to talk about?" Luke nods.

"I had a strange dream the other night," he says. "I dreamed that I was in this great big forest." He stretches out his arms to try and show Ben just how big the forest was. "There were trees everywhere. It was warm, but not as hot as here."

"You could feel how warm it was?" Ben asks.

"Yeah. Maybe I just kicked my blankets off or something, but I'm not sure. But anyway, I was in this forest, and I had a lightsaber in my hand!"

"Oh my! A lightsaber? Are you sure?" Luke nods.

"And when I turned it on, it was green! It was really, really awesome. But I had this weird feeling that it wasn't my first lightsaber. I don't know what that dream was all about, but I have a feeling that you know." Ben points at himself.

"Me?" He rests his chin in his hand, then sits back up. "Well, I might be able to help you out a little bit. If you were holding a lightsaber, then you were probably dreaming about being a Jedi. And you probably weren't on Tatooine." He purses his lips slightly. "I'd say that you were a Jedi doing a mission on some other planet!" He pats Luke's shoulder. "I'll say, that's quite the dream now, isn't it?" Luke agrees, but a feeling inside tells him that Ben knows more about the dream's meaning than he's letting on.

Ben lets Luke stay at his house for a few more hours, and then asks Luke if his aunt and uncle knew where he was. Luke shakes his head. Ben decides that he and Luke better walk to the school, so Uncle Owen can pick him up there.

"But my teacher will wonder why I wasn't at school before!" Luke says. "And I'll get in trouble."

"Well," Ben replies. "if we leave now, we can get there in about, oh, twenty minutes. That way, we'll get there just before school is over. Don't worry, though, I've got a plan so that you won't get in trouble." He winks an eye.

"Luke!" Mrs. Sandstra sounds frustrated. "Where have you been all day?" Luke glances over his shoulder at Ben, who is walking up to them from behind.

"Well, uh," Luke stammers.

"Luke has been in school all day," Ben cuts in, waving his fingers in Mrs. Sandstra's direction. Mrs. Sandstra furrows her eyebrows, and shakes her head. She looks dazed all of a sudden.

"You must have been in school all day!" she says. "I must not have noticed!" She leads Luke inside. Luke takes one more glance over his shoulder at Ben, who is standing with his arms crossed.

"It's our little secret," Ben mouths.

That night, Luke is restless. He pulls his blankets up around his shoulders, and curls up his legs. He presses his face into his pillow, and hopes that it will help him fall asleep somehow. Eventually, he drifts off, and he opens his eyes to find himself standing in front of a burning home, the breeze whipping sand around his ankles. He doesn't know how he got there or why the home is on fire, but he can't look away. He finally stares down at his hands and feet, and sees that he's a lot taller than he used to be. He's older now. _Why am I here?_ he wonders. He begins to smell the smoke rising up from the homestead, and in an instant, he knows what's going on. This used to be his home, and now, it's destroyed. He shouts something out, but his words are silenced as soon as they leave his mouth. "Who did this?" he screams. Those words are silenced, too. He has no idea who caused this. Then, he begins to feel an ache coursing through his veins. Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen are missing. He wants so desparately to look around for them, but his eyes are once again fixed on the smoldering wreckage. The smoke clears. Two charred skeletons lie on the blackened sand before him. Owen and Beru.

"NO!" Luke screams. His eyes snap open, for real this time. He finds himself sitting upright in bed. _Just a nightmare_, he tries to convince himself. _They're still here, the house is still here, and I need to go back to sleep._ Luke lays back down, and soon, he enters yet another lucid dream.

He is in Ben's house. The house looks exactly like it normally does, but something feels different. Luke realizes that he's still older, and so is Ben. Ben's faded reddish hair is now white, and he is holding something in his hand. "This," he says. "Is your father's lightsaber." His voice sounds echoey and far off, even though Luke is in the same room.

Luke's eyes open again, but he is not sitting up, and he does not yell. He falls into a deeper sleep than before, and this time, he does not awaken for anything.

He finds himself in the forest of his very first strange dream. His lightsaber is humming, and he looks up at it in admiration. He takes a step forward, and he hears the crunching of sticks and leaves beneath his feet. He looks down to find he is wearing black boots. These don't look like any boots he's ever seen anyone wear on Tatooine, but he feels that this isn't important. Suddenly, he finds himself crouched behind a huge log, and he figures that he must be hiding from someone. He doesn't know how he got there, but all he knows is that he's behind the log, and he gives it no more thought. Beside him is a beautiful, brown haired woman. She's a tiny woman, much smaller than Aunt Beru. But not too much smaller. Her hair is braided across the top of her head, but she covers her braids up with a green hat. Luke wants to talk to her, to ask her what her name is, but somehow, he feels that he already knows her, and that right now, her name doesn't matter too much. A very tall man in a green trenchcoat is walking away from them, and Luke can tell that the brown haired woman is watching him. He hears a small voice uttering a few jumbled up words, and Luke looks behind him to see a small, fuzzy creature that looks a lot like a toy he used to have when he was just a toddler.

The scene changes from a lush forest to a large, cold room. A wrinkled old man sits in a chair, and Luke knows instantly that this is not the kind of man that anybody would ever have the courage to approach. The sound of heavy breathing from behind causes Luke to turn around. He sees nobody at first. Each breath sounds like it is being sucked in and blown out through some sort of vent. It doesn't sound human at all. From out of the shadows of a dark side of the room, a tall man steps out towards Luke. The man is entirely black, and looks a lot more like an evil droid than a human. Luke wants to pull out his lightsaber and light it up, but he can't move. His eyes are riveted to the tall, dark man, and every laboured breath becomes louder and louder. The man pulls out a lightsaber, and a red blade is now the only light in the room. From out of nowhere, a bright blue flash of lightning overcomes Luke's body.

Luke jolts awake to find himself on his bedroom floor.


	15. That Won't Be My Life, Uncle Owen

"Luke," Uncle Owen announces. "Now that you're a little older, I think I'll give you one more chance to try and work on this brand new moisture tank." Luke Skywalker doesn't mind being eleven years old so far. He finds that now, he has a lot more priveledges than he used to have, and now Uncle Owen even trusts him with the moisture tanks again.

A year and a half has passed since the night of Luke's strange and vivid dreams of being a Jedi. Though they no longer disturb him like they had for weeks after that night, he has never forgotten them. He went to Ben a few times to talk about them, but each time, Ben never seemed to have an answer. Luke realized his senses were becoming keener, and he sensed for a fact that Ben knew a lot about the dreams and what they meant, but that he would never tell Luke. Not yet, anyway. Luke decided that it was best to stop asking Ben about the dreams, but he would find himself thinking about them from time to time. He would have similar strange dreams some nights, but none of them were as intense as the ones he had dreamt of before.

"Luke," Uncle Owen says. "I need you to take that screwdriver over there, and make every bolt as tight as you can get it, just to make sure the tank's secure." He points to the little red screwdriver in his brand new toolbox. Luke remembers the day he found that screwdriver. Uncle Owen had turned the house upside down looking for it, but all the while, Luke somehow knew that it had rolled under the couch, and that it had been there for quite some time. He finds it funny that now, Uncle Owen pays very close attention to where he puts his tools, especially the screwdrivers. Luke takes the tool by its handle, and gets to work, busily tightening each bolt until his fingers hurt.

"Good job," Uncle Owen says happily. "Now, I need you to climb up and stand on top of the tank." Luke sets the screwdriver back in the toolbox, and looks at Uncle Owen.

"Are you sure you want me up there?" He thinks back to the last time he stood on top of a moisture tank. He had lost his balance, and tried to hold on to the antenna for support. But the antenna broke in his hand, and Uncle Owen became very angry. Uncle Owen looks first at Luke, and then at the antenna on this new tank. He shrugs.

"Sure," he replies. "Just don't wreck this tank. That other one was hard to fix."

"Alright." Luke wraps his arms and legs around the skinny tank, and inches his way up. He holds on to a long pipe running from the ground up to the top of the tank, and he gingerly places a foot on top of the tank, trying his best to avoid kicking the antenna. Once he's finally all the way up there and standing on his own, he looks down at the ground. This tank is taller than the others, and he hopes that he doesn't fall off. He decides to risk injuring himself instead of snapping off the antenna like he did last time, just in case he does fall. The tank does not sink into the ground any.

"Hmm." Uncle Owen sounds pleased. "This one's stuck in the ground nice and tight. Okay, jump down." Luke stares at him incredulously. This tank is taller than Uncle Owen. Luke isn't sure if he wants to jump or not. "I'm not gonna catch you," Uncle Owen says. "If you're gonna be a skillful farmer, you've gotta learn to jump from high things like that. Just bend your knees when you land, and your feet won't hurt so bad." Luke gulps, and prepares to jump. Then, a little smirk comes onto his face. He won't jump off the tank because Uncle Owen said it would make him a "skillful farmer". He decides to jump off the tank so that he won't be afraid to jump when he has to get out of a large ship when he grows up and becomes a pilot. He counts inside his head. _One, two... three!_ He turns around and aims for the soft pile of sand behind the tank. He used to play in this sand when he was littler, and he lands on the pile with an "oof!" escaping his lips. He stands up, and shakes the sand out of his pants.

"That's one way to get off," Uncle Owen states. He looks off at the older tanks, and grunts. "Looks like your aunt's gotta come out here and pick these mushrooms pretty soon. They're growing pretty big." He looks at Luke. "But this time, you're not going to be picking them with her."

"I'm not?"

"No. You're going to help me fix the landspeeder." Luke smiles. Finally, something he really wants to do!

"You see that hole over there?" Luke and Uncle Owen are laying on their backs under the speeder, which is propped up on two blocks. Luke nods at Uncle Owen's question.

"Yeah, in the back there beside that big fan?"

"Yeah, that. We've gotta fix that, and then the speeder should be as good as new."

"How do we fix that, though? That's a big hole!" Luke reaches up and traces the shape of the hole with his finger in the air. The thin layer of rust covering the bottom of the chassis shows just how old the speeder is getting. Luke turns his head and looks at Uncle Owen.

"We're going to fix that with a patch," he replies. He reaches beside him and picks up a thick, square plate of metal. "We'll melt this over the hole, and then we're done! The air will go through the fans properly again, and the speeder will work." He scoots himself across the sand over to Luke. "Luke, you're gonna have to get out from under here," he warns. "The melting torch is going to get very hot. Luke rolls out from under the hoisted up speeder, and watches as his uncle puts a dark mask over his eyes, pulls on a pair of thick gloves, and turns on the melting torch. A single green flame seems to flow out through the end of the torch, and for a moment, it reminds Luke of something he's seen before. The lightsaber. The lightsaber in his dreams. Uncle Owen turns off the torch, and lifts up the mask. "I'll let that cool for a second, and then I'll torch it once more until it's fully melted over the hole." He points up. "When it's all done, you come under here and see if you can tell the difference."

"Uncle Owen, can I try using the melting torch?" Uncle Owen looks at the torch in his hand, and shakes his head.

"I'm afraid you can't. Not until you're older, alright? This is really hot, and it's not super safe. The thing's probably hotter than a light-" His voice trails off, and he pulls the mask back down over his eyes.

"Hotter than a what?"

"Nothing."

"It sounded like you were going to say 'lightsaber'. How do you know how hot a lightsaber is?" Uncle Owen snorts.

"I don't." He changes the subject. "Okay, get the extra mask from my toolbox, and put that on. Then I need you to get on your elbows and knees and watch." Luke crawls over to the toolbox, and puts on the extra mask. The stretchy part that fits around his head is a bit too loose, but he thinks he'll be fine by just holding it in the back with one hand. He watches as Uncle Owen fires up the torch, and begins to melt the remainder of the metal patch over the hole.

"You need to watch very carefully," he says. "Because you're going to have to do this when you become a farmer someday, too." Luke shakes his head when his uncle's not watching. Images from his past vivid dreams flash back to him all at once, then stop almost as soon as they start. Luke shivers. He may be a little farmboy now, but he knows that he's not going to be one forever. Not daring to say it out loud, Luke whispers it while the sound of the melting torch drowns out his words.

"That won't be my life, Uncle Owen."


End file.
